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Pointe Du Hoc - Normandy, France
Read the following passages:
Psalms 61:2 From
the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead
me to the rock that is higher than I.
2 Corinthians 12:9 And
he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made
perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Romans 15:13 Now
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may
abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
1 Corinthians 4:20 For
the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
1 Corinthians 1:24 But
unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and
the wisdom of God.
Mark and I once caught a bus in Paris that conveyed us
to the beaches of Normandy. As we
arrived at our destination, I felt a deep sense of appreciation settle in my
heart for my Papa, who fought on the front lines in Germany during WW II. My heart saluted him and the many others, including my dad, my father in law and my own husband, who
have proudly donned a uniform for our country.
During our trip we wandered through old bunkers along the cliffs of the English Channel. It
was truly a beautiful site, but I tried to imagine what the view must have been
like to the young soldiers in June of 1944.
The Channel would have been filled with ships, cannons would have been exploding, and soldiers would have been crying out amid the rapid gunfire. It must have
been surreal as they sought shelter from the hail of bullets that descended on
them from the German soldiers. Honestly, I don’t think I will ever have a clue at how
scary those hours must have truly been.
At one point, we climbed down a steep
embankment until our feet were standing on Omaha Beach. Mark and I both fought tears knowing we were standing
where the blood of many a mother’s son had soaked the sand all those years ago. I heard a few children laughing as they built
sand castles and dug into the beach. At
first I felt a little irritated by their joy at such a solemn spot, but then I realized their
cheerfulness was proof of their freedom, purchased by the lives of those who
had fought there. I removed my shoes and wandered down the beach thanking God
for what I so often have taken for granted.
One spot of the WW II battlefronts we visited was a
place called Pointe Du Hoc. It was there
on June 6, 1944, that 225 Rangers commenced their mission to take back ground
from the Germans, but doing so meant climbing sheer rocky cliffs. Two days into their battle, 135 Rangers had
either been killed or wounded but the 90 men which were left kept going. When one Ranger fell, another immediately
took his spot. These men were determined
to take back that highpoint from the enemy and in the end, they were
victorious. By doing so, they valiantly recovered
an area of France where the Allied Armies could continue pushing back at Hitler’s
Nazi Regime.
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This reminds me all to well of our Rock, Jesus Christ. And it reminds me of how every day the devil misuses God's Word in our lives. He twists it and turns it until we are shaking in our boots, afraid we are not doing right or that we are unworthy to serve the Lord. He started in the garden of Eden with Eve and twisted what God had said. He used the strength and position of the Truth, twisted it into a lie, and Eve fell for it. If she had only stopped long enough to think, really think, what God had truly said, she might have just shoved that forbidden fruit in Satan's face and told him to go choke on it.
Who is our God? He is not an amulet to be carried around to bring us luck or bless us. He is God. He is a Rock, a Refuge and a Shelter.
Psalms 94:22 But the LORD is my defence; and my
God is the rock of my refuge.
Psalms 61:2 From the end of the earth will I cry
unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
The
Bible calls God our Rock.
Psalms 18:31 For
who is God save the LORD? or
who is a rock save our God?
The
Bible names Jesus as that Rock.
1
Corinthians 10:4 And did all drink
the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed
them: and that Rock was Christ.
We can seek
shelter there, we can hide from the fire of the enemy there and we can rest
there. The strength and the position of
our Rock is like none other. We can
trust in Him at all times.
In 1984, President Ronald Reagan gave a speech at
Pointe Du Hoc to the very Rangers who fought to secure that ground in WW
II. He posed the question, “Why? Why did you do it?
What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your
lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met
here?” He continued and answered for them, “It was faith and belief; it was
loyalty and love.”
I echo those words to you, my friend. The enemy may be shooting at you from way up
high and it would appear that God is not helping you, or even listening to your
prayers, but you MUST remind yourself of the truth and not be led to believe
the lie of the enemy. You must have
faith and a belief that God is not mocked by
the enemy, nor does He wiggle in His boots at the thought of the enemy. God is The Rock. He is unmovable, unshakeable, unchangeable
and He will lend you His strength and enable you with His Power to wage
through the battle you are currently facing.
God will shelter you when you are getting too weak to
move forward. God will send you help in
your time of despair. God will pull you
up with His mighty Right Hand when you feel as though you are going to fall,
but you have got to keep your eyes ON Him. We must not let the
enemy deceive us into thinking God is a liar and all hope is lost. It is quite the opposite!
Hebrews 6:18-19 That by two immutable things, in
which it was impossible for
God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to
lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast,
and which entereth into that within the veil;
Are you getting so tired in the battle that you are
shutting down? Are you believing the
devil when he whispers, “God doesn’t care”?
Well, let me tell you something, this is not the time to quit reading your Bible. This is not the time to quit praying. This is not the time to quit in general. This is the time to dig in with the Sword of
the Truth and continue to take back ground that the enemy wants you to believe
is gone. It isn’t.
You and I have paused today on our journey for some sightseeing. We are looking at the magnificence that is
our God. He is our Shelter in the time
of storm. He is strong enough for us to
lean on and He will hold us up.
Psalms
27:5 For in the time of
trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall
he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
You may be facing a day full of problems. Matter of truth, your life may just be a mess
right now and you may be partly to blame.
But God has not abandoned you my friend.
Put your phone, tablet or computer aside and get somewhere that you can
call on your Rock. Confess anything that
may be hindering your communication with Him.
Humble yourself in His sight and tell Him you are seeking shelter. You need HIS strength or you will not make
it. Continue all day long looking up and
asking Him to keep you steady and on His solid ground. Listen for when He says to move, and most
definitely stop when He says to stop. He
will NOT fail you.
When God does give you the victory, testify of it to
others. Leave your memorial there on the
Rock for all to see that it is GOD that gives the victory. It is God that remained Steadfast when all
else was lost. Reach down and help another as they climb, don’t cut their
rope. Advance, and continue. Have faith and believe that the next battle
can be fought and won just like the last, as long as you keep your eyes on the
Rock.
This concludes this part of our tour. I hope you have enjoyed seeing the Strongest
Rock in the Universe.
Until tomorrow, Lord willing,
- Sheri
- Sheri
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