Will To Fight
This week my children worked together on a 50th birthday trip (two years late). It had to be delayed because of Marilyn's cancer treatment. We were in Chattanooga, TN. One of the places we visited was the site of the Civil War battle that occurred there. In the battle of Missionary Ridge, the Confederate Army under Gen. Braxton Bragg was entrenched. They had dug three long lines of rifle pits. This is called "defense in depth." The Union Army had to fight steeply uphill. This battle was pivotal and would decide the fate of the war.
The Union Army began to advance and engaged the first line of rifle pits. After fierce fighting, the Confederate line broke and ran uphill. The Union Soldiers pursued the retreating Confederates and each line fell in succession until the Union Army broke the Confederate line causing them to retreat.
I LOVE history because we can learn so much from it. In this case, I want to talk about the will to fight. The Confederate Soldiers should have won. They were in a much superior position. They just didn't have the will to fight. They gave up. The main reason was because their leader, Gen. Bragg, was no leader at all. He was a terrible leader and his troops hated him. People will fight to the death for a leader they love. They will falter when they are uninspired and unloved.
The Union Soldiers wanted to win at all costs. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was in command and he was known to be a great general. More importantly, though, this particular unit was led by Gen. George Thomas. Just months before at the Battle of Chickamauga, Gen. Thomas' unit was about to be overrun by Confederate troops after being isolated from the rest of the Union Army. They would have all been captured or killed except for Gen. Thomas' presence and leadership. He stood tall in the battle with his men and earned the nickname "Rock of Chickamauga." His men rushed up the slope that day in Chattanooga with the orders to stop at the first line of rifle pits. Instead, they continued up the hill and won the battle.
So what does all of this have to do with us? Well, we have a leader who sacrificed His life for us. We are in a battle every day. Some days the stakes seem small. On other days, the stakes are eternal. We always have the decision to fight or run. So what will you do?
Worship is not about singing loud. It's about living loud. It's about fighting the battle. It's about standing our ground against the enemy. It's about overrunning the gates of hell and rescuing lives trapped in sin. It's about the will to fight.
Let's get in the battle!
SONGS FOR SUNDAY
My Redeemer Lives
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj_BvlYFyEg
Come Thou Fount
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bvYJL6WhuY
More and More of You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5hHxIWbxXI
Way Maker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29IxnsqOkmQ
...and we are learning
Yet not I but Christ Through Me