Being Torn Down

Good morning! I trust you had a good weekend and that your week is off to a running start.

My oldest son, Christopher, is currently away from home attending “boot camp” as part of his Navy Sea Cadets program. This boot camp is a two week sampling of the full boot camp that our military men and women go through.

Over the weekend we received our first letter from him since he had left. Christopher was definitely feeling the stress of the demands being put upon him. Some days are like that for us as well aren’t they?

This morning I want to talk to you about the humbling process. In the military it is necessary for the recruit to be torn down, so they can be built back up. Recruits come to basic training with a multitude of ideals, values and habits. Those who run our military know that they must rewire the thinking of the individual for that person to be an effective soldier on the battlefield.

Over the course of training the recruit no longer asks “why?”, but simply responds to orders with a quick “yes sir!” The recruit transitions from being self reliant to being team reliant. Ultimately the recruit no longer sees obstacles as something to be feared, but simply as something to be overcome. The recruit is equipped and familiarized with the tools of the trade and practices with regularity until they are proficient in their useage.

Sometimes God takes us through tearing down and building up process:

Deuteronomy 8:3 (NLT)

Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people need more than bread for their life; real life comes by feeding on every word of the Lord.

My mentor once told me, “Carl, God often crushes the man He uses.” The process of refining is not always easy. But with each instance of heat and pressure we come more pure and the glory of God becomes more radiant. Just like the soldier in boot camp, we learn that we alone cannot succeed. It is only when we rely fully upon God’s strength that we overcome and “soar on wings like eagles.”

I can identify several places throughout my life where God has taken me through boot camp. Each of those times has been painful and stretched me to my very limits. Looking back though, I see where God equipped me with some of my greatest strengths and skills during those times. On the backside of those times of breaking down, I have seen God work through my life in ways that I could never imagine.

Today maybe you feel like you are in boot camp. Everywhere you turn there are obstacles and people demanding much of you. Take heart and realize that this time of being “torn down” is for the purpose of building you back up, only stronger and more confident with a new found reliance upon God’s strength.

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl