What a date to be responsible for praise! Pearl Harbor Day!
Not too many of us were around when this date in history became so famous, and many of today’s youth have no real understanding of its significance. Many people lost their lives for our freedom that day. Ships destroyed, war declared, a world-wide crisis world expanded onto our homeland. My own father was drawn into the war on that day…my parents’ first wedding anniversary (the start of another mini-war in our home upon his return from that world war experience). So what does this have to do with a Christmas Season devotional?
First… God solved a world-wide war of spiritual nature when Jesus came into the world to be sacrificed as the Savior. It was His very purpose to conquer sin that affected every person in all of history. It took death and sacrifice to provide our new freedom as believers as we still walk in this land of ours.
Secondly… The war’s five years of turbulence and confusion following Pearl Harbor made things seem as if God had abandoned the world. We know he did not, but it sure felt that way around the world, especially to those whose faith was challenged to the point of death if they hung onto it…especially those of Jewish faith.
Finally… Those who endured and made it back home were honored and their testimonies led to great changes for the better as people learned from their experiences, both as soldiers and as people of faith. The proof? We still hold the date of December 7th in high esteem as a beacon pointing to what the sacrifice means to our freedom today.
To put this into perspective spiritually, I will close with a poem I wrote when sitting by the Ocean one day. It sends the same message, but from a point of view that my personal faith can struggle the same way as did our country, and still know for a fact that when the challenges retreat, we will win victory. I hope the poem blesses you, as God blessed me when He gave me the words…
Not too many of us were around when this date in history became so famous, and many of today’s youth have no real understanding of its significance. Many people lost their lives for our freedom that day. Ships destroyed, war declared, a world-wide crisis world expanded onto our homeland. My own father was drawn into the war on that day…my parents’ first wedding anniversary (the start of another mini-war in our home upon his return from that world war experience). So what does this have to do with a Christmas Season devotional?
First… God solved a world-wide war of spiritual nature when Jesus came into the world to be sacrificed as the Savior. It was His very purpose to conquer sin that affected every person in all of history. It took death and sacrifice to provide our new freedom as believers as we still walk in this land of ours.
Secondly… The war’s five years of turbulence and confusion following Pearl Harbor made things seem as if God had abandoned the world. We know he did not, but it sure felt that way around the world, especially to those whose faith was challenged to the point of death if they hung onto it…especially those of Jewish faith.
Finally… Those who endured and made it back home were honored and their testimonies led to great changes for the better as people learned from their experiences, both as soldiers and as people of faith. The proof? We still hold the date of December 7th in high esteem as a beacon pointing to what the sacrifice means to our freedom today.
To put this into perspective spiritually, I will close with a poem I wrote when sitting by the Ocean one day. It sends the same message, but from a point of view that my personal faith can struggle the same way as did our country, and still know for a fact that when the challenges retreat, we will win victory. I hope the poem blesses you, as God blessed me when He gave me the words…
Clay Freeman
The Lone Sailor statue @ the US Navy Memorial
on Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC
"O SEA WHAT I SEE"
O the Grace that was given to us by the Father
Who provides both beauty and food from the sea,
But even more, the communication of the Spirit
With mind and soul, of everlasting power
And the truths told through His creations of Love.
For a brief moment, all is clear and defined,
At that moment, all the solidarity of His plan
Is tangible, and nothing disturbs the Peace and
Perfection, as the truth is laid out before us,
And the Art of acceptance is enacted through founded faith.
Then the trials and tribulations like waves
Engulf our minds, and peaceful tide pools become
Whirlpools, with undercurrents that pull away
As it seems the very foundations, and for a
Moment, all seems gone, false, moveable, and out of reach.
O the Grace that was given to us by the Father
Who provides both beauty and food from the sea,
But even more, the communication of the Spirit
With mind and soul, of everlasting power
And the truths told through His creations of Love.
For a brief moment, all is clear and defined,
At that moment, all the solidarity of His plan
Is tangible, and nothing disturbs the Peace and
Perfection, as the truth is laid out before us,
And the Art of acceptance is enacted through founded faith.
Then the trials and tribulations like waves
Engulf our minds, and peaceful tide pools become
Whirlpools, with undercurrents that pull away
As it seems the very foundations, and for a
Moment, all seems gone, false, moveable, and out of reach.
But at the retreat, even as if by prayer, of the power
Of the earthly disturbance, the Truth in all its clarity
Returns, and nothing has been changed, and the building,
Which has been constructed upon this foundation,
Cannot falter!
Of the earthly disturbance, the Truth in all its clarity
Returns, and nothing has been changed, and the building,
Which has been constructed upon this foundation,
Cannot falter!
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