Spiritual Shakedown: Part 2

Spiritual Courage

The day after praying for the accident victim on the road, I was still at my sales meeting and not myself.

In a large conference room, we stared blankly facing a big screen and stage, listening to boring departmental speakers sprinkled with some speakers that actually had pertinent sales content.

Traditionally, our company hires a motivational speaker to speak at the end of the most tortuous day of the meeting. Upper management surprises us with a secret guest speaker, probably hoping to re-energize us, wake us up or to end a long tiresome day on a high note.

We weren’t sure who the guest speaker was this year. Last year, it was Erin Brockovich, the real Erin, who was played by Julia Roberts.  So we weren’t really sure who to expect this year.   

As we waited for the announcement, the big screen behind the stage played intense scenes from the movie Black Hawk Down, a 2001 American war drama film.  After watching a few disturbing scenes from the movie, our Sr. VP introduced a war hero as the guest speaker, Sgt. Matt Eversmann.

While serving as a sergeant in the Ranger Regiment, Matt traveled the world on military assignments; from Panama to England, Korea to Egypt. As a distinguished leader, he trained soldiers from around the globe. As he walked into the room, we all stood to honor Sgt Eversmann with a standing ovation.

Sgt Eversmann, a tall and powerfully energetic man, began telling a captivating yet horrific story of the hostile experience in Mogadishu. Most of us saw the Hollywood movie Black Hawk down, but hearing it firsthand is much different.  What occurred wasn’t just a movie, the experience was real and real soldiers lost their lives.

As he entered the room, I couldn’t help but think about all the men and women who currently serve our country. They risk their lives every day for freedom, justice and for the greater good. I have such an admiration for our military, and I was excited to hear his story.

Before Matt began sharing moment by moment recount of the 18 harrowing hours when U.S. soldiers in Somalia were trapped in a hostile district of Mogadishu, he gave us a glimpse into his ranger unit, which composed mostly of 18 years old boys. For months, his guys trained and re-trained, preparing for the worst of missions, Operation Gothic Serpent. Mogadishu was a living hell, to give you an example if an innocent bystander accidently crossed an imaginary line on the street that resulted in immediate death by execution.  

The night before leaving for Operation Gothic Serpent, Sgt Eversmann, paced the empty hallways consumed with the realization that loss of life was evident with such a dangerous mission. As he walked the floors, he stopped and  took notice of the memorial wall with name after name of all the fallen soldiers.  He kept thinking that yes these 18 year old boys were trained and ready.  But again they were just 18, and he knew families were going to be changed forever with this operation.  

As he stared at the wall of names, his eyes fixed on a scripture in the center of the memorial. He said, “Not to get religious on you, but one thing that that I remember the most was a scripture in the center of the wall.”

 Isaiah 6: 8-9.

 “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.

And he said, “Go.”

At that point in his story, my friend Patty looked at me as she wrote down the scripture. She knew I had been consumed since yesterday, and since we were in this “spiritual mindset,” she knew the scripture would cause me to  take notice.  God had my attention as Sgt Matt spoke.

 I continued to listen closely to his story.   Without any thought,  the rangers rendered help to wounded soldiers despite the risk to themselves. Many actually lost their lives selflessly helping others. Ultimately, this mission death toll was 19 American soldiers dead and 73 wounded. Some reports estimate that there were over 1,000 Somali causalities during this operation, but nobody knows for sure.

He described the soldiers as having, “Moral Courage.” At this point,  my eyes flooded with tears, and I knew God was speaking through him. I tried to keep my emotion under control in this business setting, wiping away the mascara under my eyes and needing a tissue badly.

Praying for the man on the mountain top was more than moral courage; it was “spiritual courage.” 

Sgt Matt made a point that  life is about the people.  But I translated that life is really about the souls and sharing the hope that we have in Christ.  

After Sgt Matt concluded, there was a line of employees waiting to talk to him. I waited patiently and when I got to him. I told him, “I came across an accident yesterday, and I’ve had trouble getting it out of my mind. What you said today really helped me, especially when you said, “moral courage.” Thank you.”

He patted me on the back and said the same thing the lady said to me the day before at the accident scene. Sgt Matt said, “You did the right thing.”

God used Sgt Matt to calm my nerves, stop the replay in my mind, reassure me that I did the ” right thing” and help me get a good night sleep.

Life Application:

I think about how easy people it is for people to talk about sinful things from adulterous affairs, drugs, lying, cheating , open relationships, getting drunk, flirting with married people, not forgiving, cursing  and the list goes on. Why does it seem easier for people to talk this way than too stand up for morals, ethics and Christian beliefs?  

I met up with some girlfriend’s awhile back that I hadn’t seen in a long time. One of the ladies I’ve known for a while.   She was in a committed relationship, living with a man for a long time. As we waited for a table at the restaurant, she openly confessed to us that she would be interested in swinging, sleeping outside the relationship and didn’t see anything wrong with that.

I must admit that I was a little surprised at how open and strongly she argued her case on this subject. She spent  a lot of time trying to convince us that this is how the “modern” relationship works.

I stood up to her, obviously defending marriage as a Godly union.   She looked at me and said, “You’re just too Christian.” I think she thought she was insulting me but really it was a very nice compliment. This is  just another example of the kinds of things we face on the day to day where we need Moral & Spiritual Courage.

Thought for the Day: It takes real spiritual and moral courage to stand up for what is right even when it’s a little uncomfortable, “Graciously Bold” as it was put to me recently at church. We are all a work in progress, but if we live to please God and not others, we will be a lot better off.  

Scripture for Day:

Colossians 3:23
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”