Today is the day we observe Veteran's Day in the USA. I thought it an appropriate time to revisit a piece I wrote several years ago for a devotional DVD entitled "Anchored"- a collection of faith-based thoughts taken from experiences I had, and people I met during my thirty years as a television journalist. Retired LCDR Ralph Gaither is one of those people. He survived 7-plus years in a POW camp, and went onto share the faith that took him through that nightmare. Thank you, sir, for your service and your story of faith. Thank you... to all of you who serve and protect the United States of America.
Remote Control
“Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
Mark 5:26
He spent more than
seven years locked away in a Hanoi prison cell. This brave U.S. Navy fighter
pilot was shot down during a combat mission over North Vietnam during the Vietnam
War. In this hell on earth known as a POW camp, he endured physical and mental
torture, isolation, hunger, and more stress than any human being should be
allowed. But, he told me that no matter
how horrific the situation, he never lost sight of his belief that God was in
control and would see him through.
Ralph Gaither (now a
retired lieutenant commander) told me his story, more than thirty years after
his capture. As I listened, I marveled at the strength of this man’s faith, and
how it had sustained him during what must have been a terrifying, seemingly
impossible and inescapable situation.
In the gospel of
Mark, we read the account of a man who was also in what appeared to be an
impossible situation. He’d requested Jesus to come to his house and heal his
dying daughter. She perished while they were on the way.
But, Jesus was in
control.
He simply said to
the man, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Then, according to Mark, Jesus
brought the girl back to life. It was a miracle, as they say, of ‘Biblical
proportions.’
It’s likely that my
faith, and your faith, will never be supercharged by such an extraordinary
event as the one Mark describes. But our faith can be strengthened by the
‘ordinary miracles’ that take place all around us: a healthy birth, a fever
that breaks, a love that’s fulfilled, a marriage that’s saved, a child’s first
tooth, an Alzheimer’s patient’s flash of
memory, a disease that goes into remission, a successful surgery. And, in the
case of the faithful fighter pilot, an eventual release from the nightmare of
solitary confinement in a POW cell.
When you encounter
trouble, or a fearful situation, remember that God is in control. And it is not
a ‘remote’ control. He is as close as a whispered prayer. Pray for your own
faith to be strengthened. Ask for guidance, wisdom and power to get you through
your situation, one day-- one step-- one breath at a time.
Ralph Gaither's book, published in 1974, is available at amazon.com. You should get it.
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