Underestimation

Underestimation

3/28/15

In any aspect of war it is essential that all commanders never underestimate the enemy that they are about to face or are currently facing.  If such commanders do not recognize the full potential of their enemy it is a guarantee that a great number of their forces or maybe even all of their forces will be destroyed.  It is the same when we are addressing our spiritual enemy as well and it is eternally important that we follow the same habits as military commanders in obtaining as much information about our enemy as possible.  If we ignore the enemy and refuse to study their activities and ways there is no way that we can effectively defend ourselves when time to defend our existence.  This applies to both the physical military aspects of our defensive systems and to our spiritual defenses as well.

Many of you know that I am an avid military history buff and I have had the great privilege to read many books, watch some military reels of film and poured over many military documents over the past few decades.  While I am not a military historian by any means I have been educated enough to understand a few things about combat tactics and the use of the defensive system in order to strengthen the offensive capabilities of the military at the same time.  None of this learning process has been easy for me and it takes many hours at a time in order to provide a logical and explainable reference so that it can be relayed to the appropriate leaders for implementation.  It does not matter what the studies will be used for and some of them may not be used for the particular mission at hand but having the knowledge concerning the mission and the enemy, a military tactician can be one of the most powerful advisors that any military unit has within their ranks.

Each day that we wake up it seems like there is a new conflict that has risen during the night.  Many of these small conflicts do not make the big time news channels for they are deemed not important enough to mention.  I understand this thought process for if we did continue to address these individual conflicts there would not be any time to discuss anything else that occurred around the world.  But someone setting behind a desk somewhere in that studio must know more information about that small conflict and what it could mean to other conflicts around it or if it could eventually explode into a large scale war.  In either way it is important not to forget or to seep under the rug this small conflict because of the potential it may have for the future of that country, region or nation.

I am currently reading a book about the conflict in Rwanda and how a long term ethnic challenge turned into a huge genocide of a rival.  It also deals with how ineffective the overall personnel that were in charge of orders for the mission did not understand or flat ignored the potential of escalation of the conflict even though the boots on the ground were begging for changes.  The commanders on the field were both enraged and heartbroken with the channels and the responses that they had to endure in order to receive the words “no” and “do nothing” time and time again.  It was this lack of action and distance knowledge that portrayed ineffective leadership to both the soldiers on the ground and to the participants of the actual fighting.  When the dust finally cleared there were soldiers that were killed along with approximately 800,000 people slaughtered, not to mention a nation forever torn apart with the accolades of death as its legacy.

I understand that this process was not a new procedure in Rwanda and that the country’s history had been tumultuous for a continuous period of time.  Some even argue that the genocide was inevitable and that it was just a matter of time before the cork blew from the bottle.  In any case, we have had countless examples throughout history that should have guided us a bit further in how humans react to tense situations especially when ethnic cultures are involved.  Even the earliest secular histories paint tragic pictures of peoples trying their best to annihilate or to enslave other races for just as many useless reasons as examples.  Haven’t we been around on this planet long enough that we can figure things out a little bit more before severe and brutal tactics are needed or used?  

It is evident that our schools are not teaching history as they should nor are they placing emphasis enough on history classes and what we learn from our own pasts.  I have stated many times that history was not my most favorite subject during high school and in the beginning years of my college days, I had no interest in the subject either.  But as I have embraced this subject I have realized that history has enabled me to understand how important life is and how further we can deal with hard topics if we know how others reacted to similar situations earlier on the timeline.  No, one has to contend that the situations are not identical but the identical part of that past situation is the human and humans are very predictable, unless you have no clue about how, where and when they came from.  And when we do not understand them in this manner, it is then that our underestimation of others, and potential enemies, arises.

I usually do not get physically political in the articles and the reason is that God is not physically political, He wishes for the individual heart and if we fully give our heart to Him, then there is no reason to be physically political.  Anyway, a few years back now our current national executive person made a statement concerning a rising opponent in the Middle East.  The statement was in reference to a group of people that had ideas of taking over a large chunk of land and creating another Islamic Caliphate, or essentially a new Islamic State.  The personal subject of this paragraph made a statement that basically said that this group was of no concern and that it was a junior team and really should not be of any concern to the world.  How wrong those words have become and while many regions are now engaged in fighting this group their recruits and advancements might have slowed but are still presenting a viable force to opposing armies.

The statement made by this person has many meanings but there are two that really stand above the others.  First of all the statement means that this person did not fully understand the capability, resources, organization and foundational drive that these people had in order to draw attention of world leaders.  It does not matter how small of a group of people are for when they come together with a common goal their potential is enormous and could eventually control a huge nation or belief that engulfs the entire land.  It is at this time that the gates have been opened and it is imperative that they be controlled and then shut as quickly as possible, this has not occurred from this person nor from other similar people in that particular region. So, the fight rages on and we play catch-up to a recognizable force that has the world stopped for an unknown amount of time.  I know that it is impossible to fully know about every little detail about every group in existence, but cross the lines and reach out to those who know a bit more than you instead of assuming you have everything under control and hidden from others.

Secondly, it brings up an argument about the religious aspect of the factions involved.  Many years ago the person who made this statement was in a country making a speech that was broadcast around the world.  It was in this statement that he made comments in reference that Christians did not know their Bible.  After much anger and harsh words from many, the events died down and for the most part have been ignored but we must remember them for what this person said was and still is correct.  Many Christians do not know the Bible and what God’s Word really means to our lives and to the lives of everyone that walk this planet.  What this person does not realize is that he also does not understand what Islam represents either and the potential that both religions have in the world.  Is he a Muslim or not, is irrelevant for it is his lack of understanding on all aspects that should be concerning, including the authority to lead during these times of command.

Christians, do not believe that you are off the hook here!  We are just as guilty as this person is in not knowing and understanding what our historical reference means.  Many of us state that we take the word of god literally, and we should.  But evidently we have not believed this statement because there are now denominations that admit they do not believe the Bible literally but just take it seriously.  This is where we do not grasp the fact that the Bible is about humans and how their lives are represented by the relationship they have with God, or lack thereof.  Yes the Word of God has laws and directives that we should know and understand but it is through the relationship that those people had with God that put those laws and directives into place, not a dictatorial God who wishes to control our lives.  It is through this biblical and historical point that we have the opportunity to end life as we know it or to live in unimaginable bounty through the blessings of God.

As a society we have now begun to remove God from our personal and societal lives.  This aggressive approach to self reliance is all in the name of progression of humanity all the while advancing this agenda through the gifts that God has provided.  We fail to see that everything that we have God has created, whether it has been through a physical creation or through our individual ideas for life.  From how we raise cattle to the surgical instruments that we use for removing cancer and everything else in-between, God has given us those items; strictly for our benefit.

So, now the craze is to delete God from our lives and to rely upon our own faults as our foundation.  We are once again purposefully ignoring our own history and refuse to go to our history classes on the belief that we know everything we need to know about our enemies.  As long as we continue to develop this idea and concepts and continue to cultivate this selfish desire for life, we will increasingly render ourselves defenseless against our enemies, both physically and spiritually.  Am I saying that everyone should become a “history nerd”, not at all but at least grasp the ideas that humans have a past and that everyone uses their pasts to direct their present and future.  We can only change the course of our failures by reading our pasts and this truth cannot be emphasized enough when it comes to the Bible.

When we reject the truth about the Bible we place ourselves in a vulnerable position.  I have been in a minister’s family for 47 years now and I must admit that God has showed me more things about His Word, our creation and humanity in the past 2 ½ years than all of readings of the Bible combined.  I finally submitted myself to understanding what the Bible meant for my life and in turn God opened my spirit up to another realm that He is using for the advancement His Kingdom.  I admit that as long as I continued to read the Bible with a closed mind about humanity, I had no real opportunity to understand what really occurred during the lives of everyone that is mentioned within the pages of God’s Word.  But when I allowed God to infiltrate my life the words jumped out off the pages and their meanings became so clear to me.  That life is what God desires to place into each one of our hearts so that He may effectively communicate with His greatest treasures.

But as long as we continue to purposefully blind ourselves through blind and limited biblical reading and understanding we shall continue to underestimate not only our lives and the potential that we have but our enemy, both physical and spiritual, as well.  One of the common excuses we have today is that we only use portions of the Bible to make a point or to use as an advantage during an argument with others.  This too is a correct statement and to do this is a very dangerous and debilitating process.  Then why don’t we use the entire Bible as a foundational history lesson in which to guide us through our daily steps?  What are we afraid of? If we are to do this then we must dive deep into every aspect of God’s Word, and not just what we want to hear.

God’s love…..God’s love….OHHHHH God’s love.  This is a huge item right at the moment with those who disagree with one another.  Their argument is that we should always love each other no matter what the other person’s circumstances are.  This is a correct statement and every Christian should practice this act.  However, and this is a large HOWEVER, that both sides tend to ignore, and that is in order to receive the benefits of God’s love we must keep and obey His laws AS they were written and not humanly jaded or humanly altered to suit our own pleasures.  It is this type of act that facilitates our ignorance of God’s Word and how to fend off our enemy.  It is also a means as to how our enemy drives larger wedges between God’s children in order to keep them from realizing their true capacity for life; all the while our enemy laughs at us and skips away with a huge smile on his face.  Our eternal enemy is unseen to our physical eyes but his presence surrounds us with every physical step we take.  If one does not understand the true Word of God, Satan’s presence blends into our everyday settings and thus our eternal enemy has graduated into an underestimation which shall prove eternally deadly at some point in our lives.

What is the bottom line to this topic?  In order to completely understand our lives we must place our hearts into the entire Word of God.  Not for a few moments but for a second by second filling so that not only will we know how to live in true freedom but also complete the work that the Church needs to do.  Also, by placing our hearts into the Bible, and we lose our selfish fetishes and wants, God will transform our hearts into a wealth of godly knowledge that will help someone that you encounter.  If we allow this second by second living within the Word of God we shall never be in a position that underestimates our enemy and we will know what to expect from him at all times.  Underestimating ANY enemy is deadly and in our eternal status underestimating our eternal enemy just one millimeter can cost us a great deal, not just for a few months but for eternity.  It is time we turn our hearts back to God and restore ourselves in His ways through His holy and LITERAL Word.  God loves each and one of us but for us to know what true freedom in life is we must return back to God and refresh His ways in our hearts.

DLB