To Every Veteran: God Is Not Through With You
Today is Veterans Day. Isabella and I served a combined 46 years in the United States Army, so I am pausing our study of Daniel for one day to speak to our veterans and to the people who love them. God sees what you carried home, and He is not through with you.
Key scriptures for this year:
2 Peter 3:18 GNT
"But continue to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be glory now and forever."
Luke 10:20 Mirror
"It's time for you to rediscover who you are from Heaven's perspective."
1 John 3:10 Mirror
"There is a very visible and vast difference between living one's life from your God identity or from a fallen man's mindset."
Proverbs 25:2 NKJV
"It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter."
Jeremiah 29:13 NIV
"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
Scripture(s) we will study today:
1 Kings 19:3-4 NLT
"Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. 'I have had enough, Lord,' he said. 'Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.'"
1 Kings 19:5-8 NLT
"Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, 'Get up and eat!' He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again. Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, 'Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.' So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God."
Supporting scriptures:
John 15:13 NLT
"There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends."
Psalm 34:18 NLT
"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed."
Psalm 147:3 AMPC
"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds [curing their pains and their sorrows]."
Isaiah 26:3 AMPC
"You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You."
Matthew 11:28 AMPC
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]"
Joel 2:25 AMPC
"And I will restore or replace for you the years that the locust has eaten, the hopping locust, the stripping locust, and the crawling locust, My great army which I sent among you."
Isaiah 54:13 NLT
"I will teach all your children, and they will enjoy great peace."
Jeremiah 29:11 TPT
"Here's what Yahweh says to you: 'I know all about the marvelous destiny I have in store for you, a future planned out in detail. My intention is not to harm you but to surround you with peace and prosperity and to give you a beautiful future, glistening with hope.'"
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 TPT
"All praises belong to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he is the Father of tender mercy and the God of endless comfort. He always comes alongside us to comfort us in every suffering so that we can come alongside those who are in any painful trial. We can bring them this same comfort that God has poured out upon us."
Galatians 6:2 ERV
"Help each other with your troubles. When you do this, you are obeying the law of Christ."
Setting the Stage:
I served in the United States Army for 25 years, and Isabella served for 21. I deployed to Bosnia (once) and to Iraq (several times). Isabella also deployed to Bosnia and Iraq. To me, her deployment to Iraq was worse because she was a perioperative nurse at the time, so she was conducting surgeries in Iraq. Her job every day was to prepare the OR and to assist the surgeons as they attempted to save the lives of our soldiers and also enemy combatants.
Isabella is a universal donor by blood type. She gave so much blood that sometimes she was actually giving blood while the surgeries were going on, and she had to stay hydrated to build her strength back up. I'm a communicator. While the communications networks that I help to design, engineer, install, operate, and defend enable the mission, in my eyes, Isabella is a hero for what she did.
A very small percentage of Americans have ever worn the uniform, and those who have paid a price that most people never see. For years, it has been said that 22 veterans a day take their own lives. The latest report from the VA puts the number at 17.7 a day. That is 6,488 veterans in a single year, and more than six out of ten of them were not getting care from the VA. Every one of them was somebody's son, daughter, husband, wife, mom, or dad.
So today, I want to tell you about a warrior in the Bible who got to that same place. His name was Elijah. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah stood on Mount Carmel, one man against 450 prophets of Baal. He called on God, and fire fell from heaven. Then he prayed, and it rained for the first time in three and a half years. It was the greatest victory of his life.
Then the battle ended, and that is when the trouble started. Queen Jezebel sent him a death threat, and the same man who had just faced down 450 prophets ran for his life. He left his servant behind in Beersheba, and he "went on alone into the wilderness." He sat down under a tree and prayed the kind of prayer that many veterans have prayed in the dark: "I have had enough, Lord. Take my life."
Now look at what God did. He did not rebuke Elijah. He did not preach him a sermon or question his faith. He let him sleep. Then an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat!" There was fresh bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water right by his head. Elijah ate, drank, and went back to sleep. Then the angel touched him a second time and said, "Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you." Did you catch that? Elijah was ready for his life to end, and God was talking about the journey ahead.
Here is what I want you to see today: the battle did not break Elijah. What came after the battle did. And God met him right there, under that tree.
So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. God Sees The Wounds Nobody Else Can See.
Nobody on Mount Carmel would have guessed what Elijah was carrying. They saw the fire. They saw the victory. They saw the great prophet. They did not see the man under the tree. A lot of veterans live right there. They came home, they went back to work, they smile at the cookout, and nobody knows what goes on at two o'clock in the morning. That is the war after the war. But the God who saw Elijah under that tree sees you too. The Bible says, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed."
How this applies to you:
-- You can be strong and wounded at the same time.
-- Elijah was one of the boldest men in the Bible, and he still got to the place where he wanted to die. If it happened to Elijah, it can happen to anyone, so there is no shame in it.
-- When I came home from Iraq the last time, I battled depression. I never really talk about it publicly, but it was no joke. Mental health challenges can break you on the inside, while you look just fine on the outside. During my last deployment, while I was running the network, I was also a Pastor on Victory Base in Baghdad, but like Elijah, I still came home and battled depression. So, once again, it can happen to anyone.
-- God did not rebuke Elijah for what he said under that tree. He is not offended by your honesty, so tell Him the truth.
-- Some wounds never earn a Purple Heart, but God sees every one of them, and He can heal invisible wounds.
-- The Bible says, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds [curing their pains and their sorrows]." God does not just see the wound. He binds it up.
-- Isaiah said God will keep you "in perfect and constant peace" when your mind is stayed on Him. The memories may be loud, but His peace is stronger than your memories.
-- What you saw, what you did, and what you lost did not disqualify you from the love of God.
-- The same God who saw Elijah under that tree sees you at two o'clock in the morning. You were never invisible to Him on the battlefield, and you are not invisible to Him now.
-- Nobody else may see it, but God does. And what God sees, God can heal.
2. Getting Help Is Not A Lack Of Faith.
Look at how God restored Elijah. Before God said one "spiritual" word to him, He gave him sleep, a hot meal, and a touch. Then He did it again. God could have fixed Elijah with one sentence from heaven. Instead, He sent help that Elijah could feel, taste, and lean on. Many of us were trained to drive on and push through, and that training kept us alive downrange. But what kept you alive over there can keep you from healing over here.
How this applies to you:
-- Asking for help is not weakness. It is wisdom.
-- God sent Elijah an angel with bread and water. He may send you a counselor, a doctor, a chaplain, a pastor, or a battle buddy, and every one of them can be God's hand on your shoulder.
-- You can pray and still keep your appointment, because faith and help are not enemies.
-- Notice that the angel came twice, because one touch was not enough. Healing can take more than one visit, more than one conversation, and more than one day, so give yourself the grace to keep going back.
-- In the Army, calling for support was never weakness. It was how you won the fight.
-- Jesus said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest."
-- Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is get some sleep, eat a good meal, and let somebody sit with you.
-- Elijah did not get back up because he tried harder. He got back up because he took the help God sent, and that help carried him forty days and forty nights. If God is sending you help, please take it. Receiving the help God sends is not a lack of faith. It is faith in action.
3. God Can Restore What The Deployments Took From Your Home.
A deployment does not only happen to the soldier. It happens to the whole house. While one person is gone, a spouse is running the home alone, and the children are growing up with an empty chair at the table. Then the service member comes home, and everybody has changed. The husband is different. The wife is different. The kids are a year older, and nobody hands you a manual for that. Many military marriages did not survive the deployments, and many children are still carrying the weight of them. But our God specializes in restoration. He said, "And I will restore or replace for you the years that the locust has eaten."
How this applies to you:
-- Your family served too, and God saw every day of it.
-- God did not say He would restore the stuff. He said He would restore the years. He can give your marriage and your children more in the days ahead than you lost in the days behind.
-- If your marriage is strained, do not let the enemy finish at home what he could not finish overseas.
-- To the spouse who held everything together while your soldier was gone: heaven kept a record of what you carried. God will refill everything you poured out.
-- God said, "I will teach all your children, and they will enjoy great peace." You may not be able to get back the birthdays you missed, but you can be fully present for the ones that are left.
-- If you are the grown child of a veteran, your mom or dad was fighting something you could not see. Forgiveness opens the door for God to heal both of you.
-- It is not too late for your home to be whole.
4. Your Mission Is Not Over, And You Do Not Have To Finish It Alone.
Elijah thought he was finished, and he thought he was the only one left. He was wrong on both counts. When God finally spoke to him, He gave him a new assignment. He sent him to anoint two kings. He gave him Elisha, a younger man to walk with him and carry on the work. And He told him there were 7,000 others in Israel who had never bowed to Baal. Elijah had left his servant behind and walked into the wilderness alone, and isolation almost killed him. God's answer was a mission and a battle buddy. You took off the uniform, but God never took His hand off your life.
How this applies to you:
-- God said, "I know all about the marvelous destiny I have in store for you, a future planned out in detail." Your destiny did not end with your DD-214. God planned your life before you ever raised your right hand, and He still has plans for you.
-- If you are still here, God still has an assignment for you.
-- Do not fight this one alone, because isolation is where the enemy does his best work.
-- Paul said God comforts us "so that we can come alongside those who are in any painful trial." What you have been through is exactly what qualifies you to pull another veteran through.
-- In the Army, we lived by this: I will never leave a fallen comrade. That promise did not expire when we came home, so call the battle buddy you have not heard from in a while.
-- To the church: the Bible says, "Help each other with your troubles." Do not just say "Thank you for your service" today. Call one veteran, sit with them, and listen.
-- To every veteran: God is not through with you, and your best days are still ahead.
If you are a veteran and you are in a dark place right now, or you are worried about a veteran you love, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. That is the Veterans Crisis Line. It is confidential, someone answers 24 hours a day, and you do not have to be enrolled with the VA to call.
That's enough for today.
Instead of just closing with a declaration of faith, today I'm going to close with a prayer and a declaration.
A Prayer For Our Veterans:
Father, I come to You today on behalf of every veteran of the United States Armed Forces. I thank You for every soldier, sailor, airman, Marine, Guardian, coast guardsman, and civilian operator who raised a right hand and took the oath. Your Word says, "There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends," and every one of them was willing. You saw every sacrifice, including the ones nobody else will ever know about. Today, I lift them up to You, and I speak life over every one of them.
I pray for their minds. Some of them came home, but the war came home with them. I pray for every veteran who cannot sleep, who still hears it, who still sees it, and who has never told anybody. Your Word says You are "close to the brokenhearted," so be close to them right now. Heal the wounds that never showed up on an X-ray. Break the power of every nightmare, every flashback, and every trigger. Quiet the memories. Give them sweet sleep. Keep their minds in perfect peace. I speak a sound mind, clear thinking, and the joy of the Lord over every veteran today.
I pray for the veteran who carries guilt and shame over what they saw, what they did, and who they could not save. Let them know that the blood of Jesus is enough, and that Your grace is greater than their worst memory. Lift the weight off their shoulders today.
I pray for their bodies. Your Word says that by the stripes of Jesus, we are healed. I speak healing to every injury, every surgery, every amputation, every brain injury, every burn pit exposure, and every pain that never goes away. I speak strength to their backs, their knees, their joints, their hearing, and their lungs. I declare complete and total recovery, from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet.
I pray for every veteran fighting an addiction. Every bottle, every pill, and every habit they picked up just to get through the night, I break its grip in the name of Jesus. Set them free, and keep them free.
Lord, I pray right now for the veteran who is thinking about ending it all. Stop the plan of the enemy today. In the name of Jesus, I break the spirit of hopelessness, and I break the power of isolation. Let them know that their life still matters, their story is not over, and You are not through with them. Send somebody to their door, to their phone, and to their side. Meet them right where they are, and give them a reason to get up tomorrow.
I pray for their marriages. The deployments put a distance in many homes that the homecoming did not fix. Close that distance. Restore the trust. Restore the conversation. Restore the friendship, the laughter, and the intimacy. Restore the years. Strengthen every spouse who is now a caregiver. Let every military marriage finish stronger than it started.
I pray for their children. Many of them grew up counting days on a calendar and looking at an empty chair at the table. Heal every child of a veteran, the young ones and the grown ones. Heal the hurt, the anger, and the distance. Your Word says, "I will teach all your children, and they will enjoy great peace." Let that peace rest on every one of them, and turn the hearts of the parents to the children and the hearts of the children to their parents.
I pray for their provision and their purpose. Open doors for every veteran looking for work. Give them favor on every claim, every appointment, and every application. Bless the work of their hands. Prosper their businesses. Give them a new assignment and a fresh fire to fulfill it.
I pray for every veteran who walked away from You somewhere along the way. Draw them back. Let them encounter Your love in a way they have never known. Restore their faith, restore their joy, and restore their walk with You.
And Lord, I pray for the families who have already lost a veteran, whether in combat or after they came home. You are the God of endless comfort, so comfort them now. Hold the spouse, the mother, the father, the son, and the daughter who are missing someone today, and let them feel Your arms around them.
I thank You that You are the God who heals, the God who restores, and the God who finishes what He starts. I declare life, healing, blessing, complete recovery, and total restoration over every veteran and every military family. What the enemy stole, You will restore. What the war broke, You will heal. Their best days are still ahead. I pray this by faith, in agreement with every person who is praying with me today. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Declaration of Faith:
If you are a veteran, say this out loud. If you love a veteran, declare it over them.
Father, I thank You that You see me, and You have not forgotten me!
My service mattered, my life matters, and my story is not over!
You are close to me, and You heal every wound I brought home!
You keep my mind in perfect peace, because my mind is stayed on You!
Asking for help does not make me weak. It makes me wise!
You restore the years the deployments took from my marriage and my home!
You heal the hearts of my children to completely recover from the pain of the deployments!
My children are taught by You, and great is their peace!
I do not fight alone, and I will never leave a fallen comrade!
My mission is not over, because You are not through with me!
I am still alive! You are still working in me and through me. And GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!
I declare this by faith. In Jesus' name. Amen!
This is Today's Word. Apply it and prosper!
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