An Atheist in Battle
What the people in Gilead did in Judges 11:7 to Jephthah is what our nation has done to God. We only turn to Him when in distress.
During the Korean War an atheist soldier was in a foxhole and bullets were flying above him. Some of his comrades were fallen in the field nearby, and were not dead. His Commanding Officer ordered him to leave his foxhole and rescue some of his comrades. When his CO turned his back he hunkered down and looked at his watch. 2 others in the foxhole watched and wondered why he wasn’t obeying. A few minutes later the CO returned and said, "Hey boy, didn’t I tell you to get out of this hole and help your fellow soldiers?" "Yes sir, will do!" The CO walked away, and he again hunkered down and looked at his watch. His buddies in the hole wondered if he was sick or afraid or what. The 3rd time his CO appeared again, this time livid, and repeated his command along with the threat of punishment if not followed. The soldier apologized, and acted like he was leaving the foxhole as his CO moved along to others. But again he looked at his watch for about 2 minutes. Then, like a bolt of lightning he fired out of that foxhole and went out where the battle was raging and by the time it was over he had successfully rescued several of his fallen comrades.
When it was all over one of his buddies asked, "I noticed that you waited so long to obey that command, and kept looking at your watch. Why?" The young atheist said, "I’m ashamed to tell you why. I don’t believe in God, but my mother does, and the day I left she gave me a Bible and inside she wrote down several different hours at which she would be praying for me. I was waiting for one of those hours to strike, because I knew that under the cover of my mother’s prayers, whatever happened would be ok."
That big strapping soldier, armed to the teeth, claiming he didn’t believe until he was in danger - he is a microcosm of what is happening in America today.
From a sermon by Jerry Shirley, Jephthah for President, 3/5/2010