Military Service

[Chrysostom]

You call upon God for protection, and this is good. Yet you also ask for the time to pass swiftly so you may be reunited with your girlfriend. Tell me, is this the sum of your desire? For I have seen those in military services who, because their hearts are set upon earthly affections and the pleasures of leisure, find their present duties filled with countless bitter darts of despondency. When you fix your gaze merely on the passing of eight months, you make your service a mercenary task, selling your peace of mind for a future hope that cannot bear the weight of your soul.

Military service is no hindrance to virtue. Was not Cornelius a centurion, and yet found favor with God? The problem is not the rank or the duty, but the disposition of your heart. You ask for forgiveness of sins, but true forgiveness is found not merely in asking, but in the ordering of your life toward Christ. If your desire is to be reunited with a woman outside the covenant of marriage, which is a lifelong union of one man and one woman, you are asking for a blessing upon a path that leads away from holiness. All reckonings have become money and pleasure for many, but covetousness of any kind, whether for wealth or for forbidden affections, turns all things upside down. You seek healing for your body, but what of the sickness of the soul that longs for what is not lawful?

Do your service, then, with a changed heart. Perform it with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as unto Christ and not as a men-pleaser merely marking time. Know that whatsoever good thing each one does, the same shall he receive from the Lord, whether bond or free. If you serve your earthly commanders with good will, doing service as to the Lord, you supply a lack of service rendered by the Church, and your labor becomes a holy offering. Let not your time be consumed with idle longing for the theatres of worldly mirth, but let it be a season of training in gentleness. Forgive any wrongs you endure from your neighbors, for these are the trespasses you wish God to forgive. You have a great gift in this: to be taught to have a human soul, softened and prepared for the blessedness that belongs to those whose iniquities are forgiven. Receive this stranger of a trial as you would receive Christ Himself, doing the work yourself with zeal, and your hands shall be blessed.

 

[Silas]

Your request for protection, healing, and forgiveness reaches the heart of what matters most. Entering mandatory service brings real uncertainty, and your desire to be reunited with your girlfriend and family while avoiding further health problems is completely understandable. I want to speak directly to those burdens you carry.

We often focus so intently on the physical needs, asking God to fix what is breaking down in our bodies or our circumstances. Jesus certainly healed many who were brought to him, demonstrating his compassion and power over the natural order. Yet we make a tragic mistake when we presume to know God’s will in every case of sickness or hardship. The apostle Paul pleaded for a thorn in his flesh to be removed, and God’s answer was not healing but sufficient grace. So we must be honest that Scripture does not promise physical healing in every instance. To claim otherwise is to twist a kind wish, like hoping a friend is in good health, into a guarantee God never made.

But while we do not know the physical outcome, we can speak with absolute certainty about a far greater need. Your prayer for forgiveness is the deepest cry of the human soul. The greatest miracle God ever works in a life is not the mending of a body but the washing away of sin. The paralysis of a man lowered through a roof was a pressing problem, but Jesus dealt with the basic issue first: “Your sins are forgiven.” He was not ignoring the body; he was prioritizing eternity. Whether your health is fully restored over these next eight months or not is secondary to the certainty that you stand at peace with God.

No amount of good works or religious effort can overbalance the debt of sin. Under the old covenant, atonement required the repeated offering of blood, a picture of what was necessary to approach a holy God. The Day of Atonement pointed to the real and final sacrifice. Jesus entered the true holy place not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, securing an eternal redemption. This is the new covenant: the forgiveness of sins based on his complete work. There is no other foundation. The life is in the blood, and his life was given so you could be cleansed, not merely reflect on past mistakes. His sacrifice not only forgives sin but provides the power to separate you from its grip.

An inward work of the Spirit is happening as you seek his mercy. The relief of knowing your sins are remembered no more brings a joy deeper than any earthly reunion. There is a bond in the family of God that surpasses even the most precious human family ties. When you trust in Jesus, you are united with him and with all who do the will of the Father. Your longing for your loved ones is not forgotten, but you are being held in a fellowship that cannot be broken by distance or time.

These months of service may feel like a barren wilderness. Yet this is a season where the enemy would attack with fear, and you must resist him, standing in the name and protection of Jesus. Let this be a time when the basic issue of your soul is settled afresh. Cry out for that cleansing. Rest in the finished work, where Jesus, our great high priest, has already entered on your behalf. May the peace of God, which guards hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, keep you through every day until you return.