Where was God?

Wars are evil things. People try to kill other people. The win comes when more of the other side have died than the side you are on and that is the mission of the men and women sent. They see so much death and destruction, civilians killed and friends die that they wonder how the loving God they always thought they knew would allow any of it. Where was He?

He was there when an Ipod in a pocket saved this soldier's life. In miracles when a bomb did not blow up. When a bullet missed. He was there when a soldier was saved by the medic. With so many bombs blowing up, bullets cutting down soldiers and lives not saved by medics it is hard to figure out how some live and some die but in living these are things we never know. How does a child die yet some people live past 100 years on this earth? How does a man make it home from combat only to die in an accident back home or a victim of a crime? To think God had forsaken them is easy but if they look they will see the love they feel for each other. In the midst of evil love lives on, stronger than anger and hatred.

How can love live within their hearts while they are surrounded by death? It is because God is there when they are able to feel compassion, shed a tear, say a prayer and when they are still able to grieve over a fallen friend.

He is there when they risk their lives to save someone else. He was there when simple men fought to save others after they were wounded and we call they heroes presenting them with a Medal of Honor or to the families of the fallen who paid the price so that others may live.

God was there when a hand reached out to help, to comfort and when a knee was bent in prayer.

He was there when a family back home stood near a flag draped coffin and they were surrounded by love.

For Christians around the world today, Christmas Day, it is not a holiday but a holy day when the birth of Christ is celebrated but for the rest of the year we forget about one of the last things Christ did was to forgive the hands that nailed Him to the cross. God was there that day too. So many believe things they have done in their lives, especially during war, are unforgivable. The horrific memories grow stronger over the years and the tender moments when the love they felt was all that mattered are forgotten. They cannot believe God could ever care about them again, yet He does now just as He did then.

Christ made the dead live again, but they killed. He made the lame walk again but they made some lame. He made the blind see again, but they made some blind. He took care of the poor and needy but they took away homes with bombs, made widows and orphans. These thoughts take over the reason they were there in the first place. They went to fight the enemy trying to kill the people they went to save. They went in the place of the President and Congress deciding it had to be done. They went to serve the country they loved and to fight next to their brothers so that more of them would come home when it was over. They forget what was in their hearts but God did not forget that it was not out of hatred, but out of love they were willing to lay down their lives so that others may live.

John 15 The Vine and the Branches

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

During the foreign soil wars they were sent to save lives in other countries. They were willing to die in order to do it. There was no evil inside of them in what began their journey but when they came home they began to feel as if they were. They return feeling forsaken by God, not understood by family and friends and then forsaken by the rest of the country when they have a need to be taken care of. Being forsaken becomes a part of them and love is pushed away until they find that God was there all the time right by their side when love lived on no matter what they had to do and what they had to go through.

Medic in famous photo dies after PTSD struggle
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jul 8, 2008 6:35:20 EDT
During the first week of the war in Iraq, a Military Times photographer captured the arresting image of Army Spc. Joseph Patrick Dwyer as he raced through a battle zone clutching a tiny Iraqi boy named Ali.

The photo was hailed as a portrait of the heart behind the U.S. military machine, and Doc Dwyer’s concerned face graced the pages of newspapers across the country.

But rather than going on to enjoy the public affection for his act of heroism, he was consumed by the demons of combat stress he could not exorcise. For the medic who cared for the wounds of his combat buddies as they pushed toward Baghdad, the battle for his own health proved too much to bear.

On June 28, Dwyer, 31, died of an accidental overdose in his home in Pinehurst, N.C., after years of struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. During that time, his marriage fell apart as he spiraled into substance abuse and depression. He found himself constantly struggling with the law, even as friends, Veterans Affairs personnel and the Army tried to help him.

“Of course he was looked on as a hero here,” said Capt. Floyd Thomas of the Pinehurst Police Department. Still, “we’ve been dealing with him for over a year.”

The day he died, Dwyer apparently took pills and inhaled the fumes of an aerosol can in an act known as “huffing.” Thomas said Dwyer then called a taxi company for a ride to the hospital. When the driver arrived, “they had a conversation through the door [of Dwyer’s home],” Thomas said, but Dwyer could not let the driver in. The driver asked Dwyer if he should call the police. Dwyer said yes. When the police arrived, they asked him if they should break down the door. He again said yes.

“It was down in one kick,” Thomas said. “They loaded him up onto a gurney, and that’s when he went code.”

Dwyer served in Iraq with 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment as the unit headed into Baghdad at the beginning of the war. As they pushed forward for 21 days in March 2003, only four of those days lacked gunfire, he later told Newsday. The day before Warren Zinn snapped his photo for Military Times, Dwyer’s Humvee had been hit by a rocket.

About 500 Iraqis were killed during those days, and Dwyer watched as Ali’s family near the village of al Faysaliyah was caught in the crossfire. he grabbed the 4-year-old boy from his father and sprinted with him to safety. Zinn grabbed the moment on his camera. The image went nationwide and Dwyer found himself hailed as a hero.
Medic in famous photo dies after PTSD struggle

When love lives on, God is there. When they can find the ability to still care, God is there. Until the day comes when there is peace on this earth, there will be men and women stepping up out of love willing to lay down their lives for others. Pray for those we send until that day comes when man shall kill man no more.