-- Monday, 7/19-10 -- GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES -- Judges 4:11-22 + Words of Encouragement
J.R. & Bonnie Ricks
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DON’T MISS A VERY SPECIAL “WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT” from J.R. – after today’s devotional!
GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES -- Judges 4:11-22 NIV
Through Deborah's prophecies, God had made some important promises to Israel. First, He had promised that Jabin's army would be defeated… and it was. Deborah had relented and joined Barak at Mount Tabor. When Deborah gave the command, Barak led his ten thousand men against the army led by Sisera, and God delivered this huge army with its 900 iron chariots into Israel's hands. When the battle was over, every soldier in Sisera's army was dead. The only person on the bad guys' side left alive was Sisera himself.
Sisera was still alive for one reason, and one reason only. Through Deborah, God had promised Barak that he would receive no honor for defeating Sisera. God had promised that the honor would go to a woman. Now, looking at things from Barak's point of view at that moment, it must have seemed ludicrous that anyone would get any honor but him. After all, Deborah had remained at Mount Tabor. She didn't run ahead of the troops, sword in hand, wiping out her fair share of enemy soldiers, did she? No, but Barak did. And he had led the army to victory! A huge victory! Every man on the other side was dead! But Sisera was still alive.
Now Sisera obviously didn't plan to go down with his ship. He was high-tailing it out of there, looking for a place to hide when he came to Heber's camp. We don't know for sure where Heber and his men were, but they weren't home at the moment. We do know that Heber, a Kenite (a tribe that had historically been an ally of Israel) had gone over to the other side and had aligned himself with Sisera. We don't know why, but maybe it was because it looked like Sisera had the military advantage, and Heber wanted to be on the winning side when the fighting was over. Nonetheless, when Sisera arrived at Heber's camp, he knew he was among friends… or so he thought. What he didn't know was that Jael, Heber's wife, didn't go along with her husband's politics. So it was an unsuspecting Sisera who gleefully accepted Jael's invitation to hide in her tent. After all, Sisera was exhausted, thirsty, hungry. And since men were not allowed inside a woman's tent unless they were related or married to her, no one would look for Sisera in Jael's tent. Within moments after making himself comfortable, Sisera had a tent stake through his head… and God's other promise was fulfilled. The honor for defeating Sisera had gone to a brave and resourceful woman - Jael.
God keeps his promises… always. He alone is trustworthy. He alone is dependable. The next time you believe man - and human understanding - before God, prepare yourself for a let down. But when you believe God and God alone, you will never be disappointed.
Bonnie
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In memory of a friend…
I remember my friend, Eddie. He was a good looking kid. He had those good looks that made you know he was destined to be somebody special. The girls were crazy about him… not just because he was handsome, but because he cared.
Yes, Eddie cared about people. He liked people, and he respected life. He came from a good family, and his Mom and Dad raised him right. They taught him to respect others, as well as himself.
If you’re as old as I am, you might remember that we used to have Citizenship classes in school. I hope they still do. We learned how to treat others with respect and how important it was to help our community… how we had an obligation to give back…
Eddie felt that obligation in a deep way. He was a couple of years older than me, so when he graduated from high school, he decided that the best way for him to give back was to join the Marines.
I’ll never forget when he came home from boot camp how jealous I was. He looked so good in that uniform. And the girls went ga-ga over him. He just looked like a hero. But what did we know about war? What did we know about anything other than what we saw in the movies? We gave him a great party as a send-off when he left on his tour of duty. We were all so proud. Eddie was the first person that I had known from my generation who had become a soldier. I’ve thought of my friend and the day he left many times over the years.
The other day my wife was doing some research on the internet, and she came across a unique website. I asked her to type in Eddie’s name, and sure enough, his picture and his info popped up. I stood there looking at my friend’s face. He looked just like I remembered… still 18-years-old… wearing his Marine uniform… the way I remember seeing him the day we carried his flag-draped casket to his grave. So many times I have wondered why he never got any older, while I have lived so long…
Eddie’s name is engraved on a long granite wall in Washington, D.C., along with 50,000 others who will always be the age they were when we last saw them. How can we ever forget so many? How can we not love them and the country they fought and died for? Remembering my friend has made me a better person somehow. I cherish the same things, and I have so much that I know he wanted.
I don’t know why it was him and not me. I don’t ask that question. That was a choice God made. I like to think that if things were reversed, that I would have given myself in the same honorable way that Eddie did. So I live this life that he helped pay for, loving Jesus as my Savior, loving my family, loving my country, and loving all I come in contact with… if for no other reason than because God put them – each one – in my pathway of life. I look forward to seeing my friend someday in heaven so I can tell him, “Thank you.” In the mean time, I do what I can to honor him. I deal with others kindly and with respect. I work hard. I vote for our nation’s leaders. These things my friend taught me by example in his brief life…
I miss my friend.
In honor and loving memory of:
Pfc. Eddie C. Harris USMC
My friend
Killed in action, 13 February, 1968
South Vietnam
18 years young
Hometown: Lufkin, TX
It’s strange how we can keep our emotions pent up inside us, sometimes for years. When we finally try to put them into words, they bring forth a torrent of tears, and we find the words so hard to speak.
J.R.
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