Unseen

Operation Dynamo. Dunkirk. A successful World War II evacuation in which massive amounts of British, along with Belgian and French, soldiers were rescued. But before it was successful ...

Bottled on the beach, the soldiers were being strafed and bombed by the Luftwaffe. Nowhere to escape. No British Spitfires in sight. Little wonder the embattled troops also fought an overwhelming sense of abandonment. They didn't realize that the RAF (Royal Air Force) was already helping them. Two factors, however, kept the soldiers on the ground from seeing their rescuers from the onset.

First, most of the downed RAF planes were lost inland. They were not near the troops fighting for their lives on the beach. On top of that, the RAF planes were engaging at five miles in the sky, far beyond the range of the soldiers' physical ability to see. The RAF was there, they were coming to the troops' rescue—but the soldiers simply couldn't see them. Eventually everything came together, the troops saw their rescuers, and the successful evacuation of 338,000 Allied troops against overwhelming odds came to be known as the Miracle of Dunkirk.

Dunkirk—a microcosm of our spiritual lives here on earth. We are embattled by an unseen enemy, attacked on many sides, and many are the times when even the feeling of the presence of God is simply not there. It is then that we find ourselves in our own private Dunkirk. But just as the RAF was indeed battling in favor of the beleaguered troops, our Heavenly Father is just as assuredly working behind the scenes on our behalf.

So many times we forget the little hidden passage and its meaning found in Daniel 10:12-13. An angel appears to Daniel in response to his many prayers. After his initial greeting imploring Daniel not to be afraid, the angel explains, "From the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days ..." In the heat of our own battles, we forget the implication of these words.

God heard Daniel's prayers. He had answered him twenty one days before. Twenty one days when the angel sent from God battled with powers and strongholds in the unseen world to get to Daniel, to bring him his answer direct from God. The implication is clear. We are His children. He does hear our prayers. His answer is on its way. But sometimes, for spiritual reasons we do not see or understand, the answer is delayed.

Like Daniel, who did not give up, let us not give up. Let us hold on to the truth that God is faithful and that, because He is faithful, He will uphold every one of His promises. All we have to do is stand firm—and wait.

The Roman soldier had caligae on his military sandals, hobnails hammered into the soles that provided grip on uneven terrain, gave him the capability to stomp on the enemies' feet, and, perhaps best of all, extended the very life of the shoe. We have been called to put on the armor of God, which includes the shoes of "the preparation of the gospel of peace" (Ephesians 6:15). With our hearts centered on the good news of Jesus Christ, we wear the fighting shoes of God. We can hold our ground. We can stomp on the enemy as we hold on to God's promises. And, best of all, we will live.

Daniel. Dunkirk. We might now see the victory yet, but we will live it.

"And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear" (Isaiah 65:24).

"Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you" (Jeremiah 29:12).

"For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers" (1 Peter 3:12).