I have a good friend who’s a soldier in the US Army. He and I run together regularly, and we talk about life.
As expected, his life as a soldier is much more exciting than mine as a pastor.
We were talking about his last deployment, and the times he had spent at the base. Mid-sentence, still as cool as the other side of the pillow, he dropped this line on me:
…a rocket exploded close by…
I stopped him right there. Never. Ever. Has that happened to me. “Do you not have bunkers on the base? Where you can take cover when a rocket blows by your base?” He responded, “There are concrete slabs set up that you can get under, but most guys don’t even bother.”
He told a story about a time he had just arrived on the base.
We heard this sound going over our head, and my buddy and I looked at each other and both said, ‘What was that?’ Then we heard the huge *BOOM* down range. We ran into the nearest living unit, frantically scurrying around, asking everyone there, ‘Where’s the bunker?!? Where’s the bunker?!?’ Nobody was 100% certain. One guy said, ‘I think it’s somewhere over there, pointing off into nowhere.’ And the strange thing to us was that nobody was frantic. They weren’t worried about the rocket that had just exploded.
I, still baffled that a rocket would explode so close, probed for more explanation.
The guys shooting the rockets had to be within 2 miles of our base to even come close to hitting us. Which doesn’t leave much time from when the rocket is fired to when it hits the base. So by the time the sirens go off signaling an incoming rocket, you’ll have about 10-15 seconds before the rocket hits. Most of the time, you’ll just take your chances and not sweat it. Nobody in our unit died from rocket fire the whole time I was there.
What’s happened is that these guys have been lulled to sleep because they’ve been in the war for so long. Nobody in their unit had died from rocket fire, so it was as if it weren’t really that dangerous.
I guess I’ll never get it. I keep getting hung up on this line:
…a rocket exploded close by…
War is going on all around them, but they live as if it doesn’t exist.
And the exact same story can easily be ours spiritually. May we not forget that our Enemy is on the prowl, looking to devour us (2 Peter 1:5). May we not let our guard down. The battle we fight is a spiritual one that’s unseen, but it’s a real battle nonetheless.
The battle for our hearts is a fierce one. When you let down your guard, you’ll find yourself weak and vulnerable to defeat.
It’s when we don’t see the effects of the battle for months and months that we can be lulled into thinking that the battle is over…and that things aren’t still dangerous. If you haven’t heard any “rockets” lately, it’s time to buckle down. You’re in danger.
