Hiding in Foxholes

When I look out upon the world I often can't help but see a barren landscape. Looking at the people I come across in my daily life I often see the a pain they can't shake, wounds that won't heal, and troubles that simply won't pass. I see it in the way they treat the people they don't know and then how they behave with those they do. In the defenses, the paranoia, and the through the facades they build I can see the scars of a life spent fighting off the vultures.

This is a part of life in what I call "no man's land" that I never have gotten use to. The pain that floats just beneath the surface is almost palpable. When I'm around a person with especially raw wounds the pain almost has that wretched scent of gangrene. It deteriorates the very nature of it's victim. It strips away the humanity and leaves nothing for its victim to replace their loss with. In the end they are more zombie like than anything else... barely alive and yet still going through the motions.

This is what the enemy does to people. It is a tormentor that knows no limits to what agony it can inflict upon it's victims. By delivering blows that the prey can't heal on their own the enemy makes wounded animals out of human beings. They know the pain is real, they can feel the suffering in their minds and bodies, yet the wounds can't be seen. This is the slow death the enemy offers to people.

Day after day I find my foxhole to duck into. Peeking over the filthy edge all I see is a broken world all around me. The dead and dieing walk all around me. Their numbed faces fake smiles as they pass one another. But the smell of infected wounds can't be hidden. And I should know, I have plenty of my own.

Setting in my foxhole I know I have a secret. Tucked under my shirt I have a cure for my own disease. From the pages of this weapon I find strength to endure. From these living words my wounds are healed. Setting in my foxhole I know I have something I can't hide.

Looking over the ledge of my foxhole I can see in the distance another head pop up over the ledge of a distant foxhole. Through the crowd of wounded souls I can spot another person just like me peeking out over this barren wasteland. And in an instant we both duck back down and out of sight.

I look over the ledge once again, this time in another direction. Again I see another person just like me peering out from yet another foxhole. And once more we make eye contact just before ducking back down and out of sight.

Day after day I have hid in my foxhole. I have watched wounded souls wander past without giving it much thought. I all honesty it just hurt to much to look at them. But now I realize I'm not alone. Looking out of my foxhole I can see the field around me is dotted with distant foxholes. Like gophers we peek out of our little comfort zones. Day after day I had hid in my foxhole... never noticing all of them.

I know I have a weapon, a tool, a cure... and suddenly I realize so do all of those other ones just like me... hid in their foxholes. So now all I can see is a world full of people just like me. Hiding in their foxholes they hold onto the living word as they duck down and out of sight. But why? Why do we hide in our foxholes?

Now when I look out upon this world I see a landscape dotted with foxholes. And all I can think of is what it would be like if we came up... over the top... into sight... word in hand... ready to fight.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

Joshua 1:9

The Toothless Lion

"For when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of G-d; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

"For every one that uses milk is unskillful in the word of the righteousness: for he is as a babe.

"But strong meat belongs to them that are full of age, even those who by reason of use have the senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

~ Hebrews 5:12-14

When we first start our journey in our faith the L-rd describes us as babes, mere infants, that He wishes to raise up on H-s words and wisdom. In this aspect we are nurtured by our G-d on H-s milk so that one day we might mature into the mighty warriors he created us to be. This is a phase in our journey that is precious and vital to our spiritual well-being. It is a bonding period that binds our soul to the very heart of G-d. But it was never meant to last forever. 

At some point we are meant to grow into the lions G-d has shaped us into. Our manes grow out, our muscles are made strong, and our teeth appear. All of this is made possible by the milk of G-d's word. Yet none of these aspects of maturity can be sustained by milk alone. 

Like lions, we go through the phase of "cutting our teeth". We make mistakes and get to anxious to move onto the meat. At times we are just to eager and hit the ground running in whichever given direction. And for the most part, these mishaps are easily corrected and we get back on course and follow in our L-rd's footsteps once again. 

But for some of us these little errors in judgement are enough to make them turn away from the next phase or leave their faith all together. When it comes time to use their teeth they simply reject the premiss all together. For others the very idea of moving on from the milk phase is just too great a step for them to take. Instead of maturing in their faith they seem more content to stay an infant for the rest of time. In either case the end result is always the same. 

Starvation. 

A lion without its teeth is doomed. Without the ability to accept ourselves for what G-d has made us and is shaping us into leaves us toothless. And in our spiritual lives there is no such thing as stagnation. There is only growth and starvation. 

The soul of man was made to seek after its Cr-ator. To do this it has to be able to grow beyond simply knowing that G-d exist. It needs to know the love of G-d. And after that it yearns to know every other aspect of G-d. If it is cut off from learning, from growing, it starts to retreat. The passion our souls naturally posses for G-d mirrors the passion G-d posses for us. 

Once we learn to accept the challenges laid before us and learn to accept both our failures and defeats, we learn what it means to cut our teeth. From that point on the meat of G-d is our persistent "hunt" for H-m... our seeking after H-s presence, H-s word, and H-s heart. Once we learn how to do this we learn what it means to truly never be 'hungry' again. 

"The young lions do lack, and suffer from hunger: but they that seek the J-hovah shall not want any good thing."

~ Psalm 34:10