Going for Broke…

Risking everything.  Trying as hard as possible to succeed against great odds.

Apparently, this expression was first coined as the motto of a World War II Japanese-American military unit.  Funny how that military context brings into sharp focus the urgency of certain lifestyle choices and their potential consequences.  Is it ever as “simple” as kill or be killed?

You have called us — Your chosen and dearly loved (Colossians 3:12) — to a different kind of battlefield… haven’t You, Lord? We are at war only because of those who so viciously oppose You.  At war with enemies You have called us to love.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.  He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”  (Matthew 5:43-44)

Thankfully, Lord, You have already won this war!  Your Victory came at Calvary long ago, with an unmistakable exclamation point — Your empty tomb.  You “went for broke,” risking everything.  And You succeeded, gaining priceless riches for those of us — all of us — who were hopelessly impoverished with a debt we could never repay.

“God made you alive with Christ.  He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.  And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the Cross.”  (Colossians 2:13b-15)

Going for broke.  This expression took on new meaning for me yesterday, when I received an unexpected phone call from my doctor.  Thursday’s test yielded Friday’s diagnosis:  Significant bone loss.  High risk for fractures.  Going for broke… or, in this case, broken?  The “weapons” we have been using have not worked.  Time to pull out the Big Guns.

You know better than any of us, Lord, the season of battle we are in… and the season we are entering.  The demands that will be placed on us.  The fitness that will be required — physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.

We each have our own unique challenges.  Is this latest news simply a result of my own high risk factors (a Caucasian, thin woman who is aging)?  Were these factors compounded by the aggressive chemo I experienced?  How I got here really doesn’t matter… does it, Lord?  This is no time for “equipment failure.”

I know a Navy Seal commander and have often considered Navy Seals to be among the most highly fit and highly trained of our Nation’s elite warriors.  Some would argue that the Army’s First Special Ops “Delta Force” trumps the Navy Seals.  But as Your dearly beloved, Lord, we are warriors who belong to an even more “elite” fighting force.  “Seals” in Your Alpha & Omega Force.

“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.  He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”  (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

As eternal members of this Most Elite Force, we must diligently engage in — and surrender to — even the most counter-intuitive “weight-bearing” exercises:

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”  (Colossians 3:12-14)

By Your leading, in light of this latest news, I am embarking on a new training regimen.  By Your Grace, I am trusting You to accomplish — in me and for me — what is impossible for me to do on my own.

“The Lord will keep you from all harm — He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”  (Psalm 121:7-8)

Your Warrior Princess, entering Boot Camp 701…

Abba’s Girl