Wounded Soldiers

By Karen King  

One of my all time favorite movies is “Gone With the Wind”, the epic drama about the feisty Scarlett O’Hara and the plight of Southerners during the Civil War.  There is a scene that haunts me right after the intermission.  The camera swings wide and all across the ground as far as the eye can see are dead and wounded soldiers.  It is an overwhelming sight to see those who once went forth with such determination and loyalty to the South now lying unable to move on the ground.  As I think on that scene, often a picture that is less concrete but equally moving comes to my mind.  It is a picture of those who started out as soldiers for the Lord and were intent on serving Him.  Then, for whatever reason, hard times came or other things attracted their attention and loyalty and, now, they are no more effective than those soldiers in Atlanta.  

What has happened to “all the Christian soldiers” and who will go and “fight the good fight”?  Who will be strong and help those who are falling by the wayside to get back on their feet and back into being a committed soldier of our Lord Jesus Christ?  The soldiers in “Gone with the Wind” were brought low by bullets, muskets and other weapons of war.  What has brought our Christian warriors to the ground?  Was it a relationship gone bad, hurtful words from a fellow Christian, lack of daily communion with the Lord, a tremendous loss in their lives?  Whatever it was there is healing with Christ Jesus and they CAN become effective soldiers again unlike those lying on the ground after a battle in the Civil War.  And if you ARE still an effective warrior, maybe you need to look around and see who you can bring the gift of encouragement to, so that we can get more of these soldiers back on their feet.  And we are ALWAYS in the business of recruiting new soldiers!  
God’s Word tells us that we have an enemy of our souls and his name is satan.  While he cannot steal your salvation from you, he is quite capable of stealing your joy and your effectiveness through the fiery darts that he aims at the battleground: your mind.  There the enemy sends darts of discouragement, guilt, disappointment, and lies.  Remember, he IS the father of lies and therefore the enemy of your soul.  How do you resist him?  Well, God answered that question in Ephesians 6.  He tells us in detail the armor that we are to put on DAILY.  “Put on the full armor of God that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:1 NASB)  This armor is as important as the clothes you wear to protect your body against the elements.  Without it you will never have victory as a soldier for Jesus Christ, and this world is in desperate need of dedicated soldiers who won’t give up no matter what comes their way.  Are you a soldier of the Lord?  Do you have your armor on?  Do you even know where you left it?  It’s not too late to get dressed for war because, my beloved brothers and sisters, we are in a war for the very souls of men and we need all Christians to be suited for warfare at all times.