God gave us Godly Men

The daily reminder from Papa Roy, and IFOC Chaplain and dear friend, sent today puts what I've been trying to say a lot better than I could. He always manages to do it.

Good morning, Friends! Grace to you.

Sent by Papa Roy
God, Give us Godly Men



God, give us men...ribbed with the steel of Your Spirit...men who will not flinch when the battle is fierce...who won’t acquiesce at the bargaining table or compromise in principle. Give us men who won’t retreat on the battlefield...men who won’t sell out for lucre or convenience. God, give us men who won’t be bought, bartered, or badgered by the enemy...men who will go the distance, pay the price, suffer the loss...make the sacrifice...stand the ground, and hold high the torch of conviction in the face of pressure. (Bob Moorehead)


Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (Jude 1:21)

When soldiers are in combat, they see all the worst mankind is capable of because they focus on staying alive. They cannot see what is within them as a gift in the midst of all the suffering. This is not about God picking sides but standing by the side of the soldier and living within him.

To each man and woman, there is a gift within each of us to provide us with everything we need to overcome the world. By this I mean anything that happens in our lives, living for the purpose we came into this world for.

Godly men and women walk this earth as simply as any other human, each contributing according to their own gifts. For the men and women with the courage to risk their lives for others, there are many among them with the gift of deep compassion. These are the men and women suffering the most with PTSD because the level they are able to feel is so deep and consuming, it penetrates their soul. If they are able to find God there in the moments of "evil" as man destroys man, they know they were there for a reason and God was with them. If they cannot find God in those moments, then they walk away from it thinking God either judged them, condemned them or abandoned them. They cannot see their compassion was from God and was there all the time.

Compassionate people are not cowards. In truth, compassion require courage or it is worthless. In the face of "evil" if compassionate people do not act against "evil" then it wins. It is not just a matter of the enemy being an example of evil, but the evil inside each of us with our own freewill to do harm to others. Each one of us are capable of living up to what we were sent to do through God's grace or turning on God to do as we see fit. Yet when we follow what our soul is saying to us, we live in moments of grace even in the fact of evil.

Selfishness is rooted in the part of us that says "do nothing" or to "seek revenge" because we focus only on ourselves. We want to stay safe when someone else is in danger. We want to seek revenge when someone has harmed us, attacked us or someone we care about. Human nature lives within each of us but it is God's nature that overcomes what humans want to do if we follow where He leads.

In a moment of combat as man is trying to destroy man, Godly men/women, filled with compassion, live as God's grace of compassion beats within them. While others may begin to be fueled by hatred and seeking revenge, the Godly show compassion enough to keep the others from turning into monsters as "evil" tries to take control over them. The Godly warrior is there with the gift from God in the midst of the worst man has to offer.

If they understand this, then they are able to heal quickly from what they see and what they have to do. God understood that goodness within would always have to combat evil within. He created a warrior angel before He created mankind. The Archangel Michael stands with a shield in his hands as a warrior angel because freewill can either fuel goodness or evil and because of this, there always has to be a greater angel among the rest with the compassion to soften others.

When they have "tender hearts" they also have to be provided with the gift of courage to act on the compassion pulling them to act with compassion. Moments of greatness when a soldier will think of others first, leave a safe distance for himself, rush into danger to save others and place himself in harms way. This required courage to act on the compassion within them for the sake of others, yet we do not see this. We see only the act of courage and honor their sacrifice with posthumous medals for their courage, but not for the compassion they felt for others to lay down their lives for them.

Some say compassion does not belong in combat but those saying it do not understand without compassionate people, the entire world would be in constant combat, there would be no rules to stop anyone, restrain them from going too far or even to inspire them to save the lives of the others they serve with. Compassion for the sake of their countrymen is what is the basis of their willingness to serve at all. We see this in the civilized world with police officers and firefighters along with first responders. They risk their lives daily for the sake of others and again, it required compassion as the basis.

When a warrior understands God's love and gifts, they are able to heal from what they go through easier than if they did not fully understand what God enabled them with. Without this understanding, they keep wondering where God was instead of knowing He was there within them. They have nothing to support them as their compassion begins to feel more of a curse instead of a gift and they suffer emotionally.

PTSD is a wound to the soul, to the region of the brain where emotions live, thus where the soul lives. Understanding the basis of what is within them can help them to heal but not understanding it allows doubt to penetrate them. They then question everything. They question the existence of God Himself because of what they saw. How could there be a loving God allowing all of that to go on? Where was God when my friend needed Him? Where was God when a child died? Where was He when I had to take a life? These questions run through their minds and as they seek the wrong answers, they seek to stop feeling because the pain becomes too great of a burden to carry alone. Without the ability to trust God anymore, they are alone.

We want God to stop wars and let us prevail, but the other side is asking the same God for the same outcome. We ask Him to save the lives of our friends, but the other side is asking the same. We ask He watch over our soldiers at the same time prayers are being given for the same from the other side. God cannot control what man does to man any more than He can control if we walk away from Him or run to Him. That is up to all of us to choose. If we know Him, trust Him and know that God has provided all we need to do what we were sent to do, then we heal from what other people do. The compassion within Godly men/women, is there for a blessing and not a curse, if we know how to find it.

If you have yet to understand God, seek the answers from the Ten Commandments and from the Red Letters of the New Testament. The Ten Commandments are in two parts. The first, about our relationship with God and the second part about our relationship with other people. It is a love letter from God. The Red Letters of the New Testament are what is reported Christ said and what He said agrees with the Ten Commandments. If whatever else you find in the pages of the Bible do not agree with them, then consider it man's interpretation of what God intended. The Bible is filled with mankind getting it wrong all the time. You will find God's love and understand the gifts/blessings He has provided you with and know He was there all along living within you through your soul. And then, then you can begin to heal.