D-Day

Today is D-Day, 66 years ago today Allied troops stormed the beaches of Northern France, and won the decisive battle of WWII. When the troops took the beach the road to Berlin had been paved, and victory was certain. But the war wasn't over. There were still battles to fight. D-Day was essential, but without V-Day, D-Day was pointless.

In college I had a class, Doctrine of Christian Holiness, and in this class my professor talked about D-Day. How does it tie to Holiness? Just as D-Day was the turning point of the war, the Cross was the turning point of history. The cross was the decisive battle that assured victory. The cross paved the way back to the throne of God. But with out the empty tomb, the cross is pointless. No Easter, then who cares about Good Friday?

I remember just after the class ended for the semester I was in Washington DC at the WWII memorial. There I saw a quote from General Eisenhower, "You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in battle." That quote made me think a lot.

This man, a general they looked up to and respected, has just expressed his full confidence in there ability not only to take the beach, but also his faith in their courage to do it. God says the same thing to us.

On D-Day we see three types of soldiers. There is the one who gets shot as soon as the gate on the boat drops. Then there is the soldier who fights part way up the beach but during the battle is killed. The final soldier is the one everyone wants to be, this is the one who storms the beach, fights to the cliffs, makes it up, and stands in victory at the end. No one wants to be the guy that dies the moment the firing starts, no one wants to be the first to fall, but because of the sacrifice that this one makes, the one who stands in victory at the end is able to make it.

In the Christian walk we face Normandy throughout life. Sometimes we fall first, other times we stand victorious at the end. But that isn't up to us. We don't control how far we make it. The only choice we have is whether or not we get on the boat. And the thing with it is, that's enough.

John 21.20-22 "Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, 'Lord, who is the one who betrays You?' So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, 'Lord, and what about this man?' Jesus said to him, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!"

I think about the armed forces, and at times, I find myself wishing I'd have enlisted and tried to become a Navy SEAL, right out of high school I'd have had a chance to do it. But I look, and I know that God didn't intend for me to go down that path. Instead I'm fighting in a different war. A war where the outcome and my achievement in it is not up to me. The choice I need to make is whether or not I'm going to get on the boat. As long as I do that, then I'm in the will of God, and the rest is up to him.

Will you join me on the boat headed to the beach? Can we all let go of our desire to stand victorious and surrender to God's control?

Thank you to those who stormed the beaches of Normandy, your courage and sacrifice are not forgotten.