Battlefield Blindness

http://awwy.hutchcraft.com/Transcript.aspx?id=9965694d-4df2-4049-8fc0-a5ecac0d0982

"Embedded reporters." It was a concept most of us had never heard of until Operation Iraqi Freedom. But the U.S. Military decided to allow reporters to actually travel with and report from active combat units, fighting for the liberation of Iraq. The result was these amazing live transmissions from sandstorms, rapid troop movements, actual combat in progress, and even the takeover of some of Saddam Hussein's palaces. It was the ultimate in reality TV. Of course, it had one disadvantage; one that briefers and Pentagon officials kept reminding people of. The embedded reporter could only report on the small slice of the big picture that he was able to see from his unit's vantage point. A seasoned military observer expressed it this way on television: "The closer you are to the battle, the less you can see the whole war."

Notice the principle here: as long as you're totally focused on the current battle, you probably won't be able to see God's big picture. You have to "walk on ahead of the people." Take some time away. Get some distance. Be in a place where the only voice you're listening to is God's. You've been so focused on your child's problems, your mate's problems, the contentious issues, the difficult people, the physical struggles. You're not able to see the big picture of what God is trying to do and what part He wants you to play in it.

Battlefield nearsightedness can also blind us to how far we've come; we're obsessed with how far we still have to go. And it can blind us to how far someone else has come, too. We can only see how far they have to go. And battlefield blindness gives us spiritual amnesia. It makes us forget what an awesome God we have and the mighty things He's done for us in all those past battles. So many of yesterday's mountains are today's monuments to the power and faithfulness of God.

So take a step back. Walk on ahead of the battle for a little while and God will show you some answers that you would never see when you're in the middle of the battle.