There are times when I can’t help but wonder what if. What if Rebekah had waited for the blessing from Isaac to Jacob that God had already promised her would be. What if she hadn’t taken matters into her own hands as we read in Genesis 27? She talked Jacob into tricking Isaac and a whole walk of life changed for all of them. What if she had trusted God to bring about what He had promised in His way and in His timing? We’ll never know. The blessing was obtained through deceit.

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fail, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:28-31 NKJ.

Those verses of Scripture were quoted at the beginning of the movie Hacksaw Ridge. Based upon the true story of Pfc. Desmond Doss who won the Congressional Medal of Honor during World War II for his bravery in single handedly saving 75 men without firing one shot in the Battle of Okinawa. He had to undergo a Court Martial to win the right to “go into battle without a single gun to save you”. As a conscious objector, he became a medic who earned the respect of the very men who ostracized him during training. He knew what he believed. He patiently endured the trauma of choosing what God led him to know to his hurt. He knew God’s heart and he knew he was called to serve in the war. The fighting was so fierce 3 battalions were lost in a day. Witnessing the inhumanity of war, he momentarily couldn’t hear God and wondered what God wanted of him. Then he heard a wounded soldier crying for Medic! He was the only one left standing and worked through the night and early morning saving wounded to lower them down a rope to the ground below the high ridge. With each soldier saved, his prayer to God was Lord let me save just one more. Have you not known? Have you not heard? He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength…But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength…

I asked myself this morning how do I wait on the Lord? I’m sitting in my living room and I can hear a plane overhead, cars on the street on the first day of school. In my Bible timeline it says Jacob flees to Haran 1929 B.C. to escape the wrath of his brother Esau whom he deceived out of a blessing that was never meant for Esau. Pfc. Doss saved lives in a battle that saw 12,520 Americans killed; 110,000 Japanese killed in 1945 A.D.

Where do you and I fit in all of this when we need to live our lives in whatever circumstances our days find. Know God’s heart. But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend. I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’. I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:8-10.

I pray for the strength of conviction that Pfc. Doss had that helped him patiently endure the trials before and during his service as a medic. He put his trust in God. God strengthened him and upheld him with his righteous right hand and 75 men were saved. They experienced a powerful witness of God’s power and what a blessing that was, a privilege to see in the midst of incredible inhumanity. The true blessing was that Pfc. Doss knew exactly Who it was who strengthened him and led him….the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth who neither faints nor is weary.

Rebekah didn’t have a Bible to read, Pfc. Doss kept his close to his heart during the war. We are so blessed to have examples both good and bad to learn from. Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21.