Battle Buddies

Today I want to introduce a concept called Battle Buddies, but first I need to share a spiritual Storm Warning. To do that, I need to start by giving some background notes on the multitude of ways God chooses to communicate, so bear with me.

The Bible is full of examples of God talking to people. Some people asked God for a physical sign. Examples include Abraham's servant (Genesis 24) and Gideon (Judges 6). With others, such as Pharaoh (Genesis 41), Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2), and a random Midianite soldier (Judges 7), God communicated through a dream. In some cases, God talked to people using words, such as to Moses (Numbers 12:6), Paul (Acts 9), and to John the Baptist (Matthew 3). People, such as Abraham (Genesis 18), Hagar (Genesis 16), got a visit from God in person. Some, such as the Roman centurion Cornelius (Acts 10), the priest Zechariah, and Mary and Joseph (Luke 1), saw angels. Others, such as Peter (Acts 10) and king Belshazzar ( Daniel 5) saw visions. (A vision is like having a dream while you are awake. It might have sounds, or even smells. It might be faint, or might be so very real that you don't realize until it's over that it was "only" a vision and not "real life." See also Acts 12:9.) Others see still images, like photographs. Here are a couple of examples of God using still images. The first is in Jeremiah 1:11-12, quoting from The New International Version (NIV):

The word of the LORD came to me: "What do you see, Jeremiah?"

"I see the branch of an almond tree," I replied.

The LORD said to me, "You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled."

The translator's notes for this passage tell us "The Hebrew for watching sounds like the Hebrew for almond tree." God was making a visual pun! Another example of God using a solitary image (and another visual pun) to make a point is a passage I opened to this morning, Amos 8:1-2 (NIV):

This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. "What do you see, Amos?" he asked.

"A basket of ripe fruit," I answered.

Then the LORD said to me, "The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer."

Please note that in the above examples I cited, most were "regular people," not prophets or holy men. Many were God-fearers, to be sure. But God also communicated with pagans such as Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Cornelius, and the Midianite soldier! My point is, that you don't have to be a biblical prophet to have a God-encounter. If you diligently seek God and cultivate a true relationship with Him (Jeremiah 29:12-14), you will find Him. And if you press in and keep seeking to know him, you will find that He talks back! In fact, Genesis 3:8-9 suggests that God likes it-- that He enjoys it when we hang out with him! In this passage, Adam and Eve had already sinned. When they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day, they hid among the trees. But why was God there in the first place? Because He wanted to talk with them, to fellowship with them. To be with them. Walking and talking with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening was their nightly ritual. Why? Because God enjoyed talking with them. And God still enjoys talking with people today.

In my own life, God communicates most often and most clearly through reading my Bible, occasionally through dreams and just speaking to me, but often through visions or still images. I shared some recent ones in my last blog post "Shaking," and God showed me some things since then that I feel need to be shared.

I am part of a Facebook cancer group called "Mantle Cell Lymphoma: The Journey." I was praying for my cancer group a few nights ago. In response, God showed me two things. First, I saw the pierhead of a coastal dock from the South Carolina Low Country. It is the southern end of the South Carolina coast, and consists of salt marshes and very flat ground. The normal tidal range is 6-7 feet between high tide and low tide. Docks have to go far from shore to get to deep enough water to be able to use the boat at low tide, and most residential docks require a 200' to 300' walkway to get out to a pierhead. (Some walkways are 500' to 700' long, and residents drive golf carts out to the end!) A typical pierhead is 12'x16' and is perched on timber pilings that have been driven into the mud and then braced for support. (I am a former dockbuilder and I used to build these structures.)

While normal tidal fluctuation is 6' to 7', we have a "king tide" for three days and nights every time the moon is full. During a king tide, the water goes down to 1' below the normal low, and up to 2' higher than the normal high. As a dockbuilder, I had to account for that when I built them, to make sure the main structure was above king tide. The normal practice is to put the heavy dock frame about a foot above the king tide high, which puts the decking that you walk on about two feet above the water at king tide. This covers you from everything except hurricanes, which can have a storm surge of 8' or more. (A storm surge is where the offshore wind pushes the water ahead of it and can raise the basic sea level higher than it would normally be for that point in the tide cycle.)

The image He showed me during this prayer time was of a standard pierhead, with a roof. I was seeing it as though from a boat, and was viewing it at relatively low tide. It looked pretty old, and some of the piles looked like they were rotten and needed to be replaced or shored up. It needed some TLC (tender-loving-care) to be sure. Then my point of view changed from looking at the pierhead from a boat to actually standing on it. I was at the corner of the pierhead, looking down. But now the water had risen halfway up the 2x10 main frame, and was only about 4inches below the decking. The water was rising due to storm surge and was already almost four feet higher than it was supposed to be at high tide. It could only mean one thing-- a big storm was coming in.

Like the shaking visions I wrote about last week, I believe this too is a warning. Not only is the storm coming, but it is imminent. It will arrive soon, and God is warning us so that we can prepare. But how? What KIND of storm is it, and how do we prepare? With physical storms such as hurricanes. those of us on the southeast coast know what to do. We have generators, bottled water and canned goods. If it's bad, we evacuate. If not, we get set to ride it out. We are not in hurricane season yet, so I don't think this is a reference to a physical storm. So what else is there? What kind of shaking is about to take place? War? Shortages of food, medicine, gas, and electricity? (All of the above?) How do we prepare, exactly? Physically, you treat it like a hurricane is coming, and you stock up. But I think the areas we are lacking in is spiritual and social preparation. We can prepare spiritually by getting our hearts as right as possible with God. But socially? There's an area where there is room for improvement for all of us.

The American romantic ideal is typified by the lone settler, living in his own hand-built home on his own land. He is self-sufficient, and needs nobody. Independence, baby! But that's not how God made us. Rather, I think God made us to live in community. to look out for each other. We can shore up-- strengthen-- our dock through strengthening our relationships with others. The US Army has a great concept called a "battle buddy" that I think depicts this sort of relationship really well. The Google AI overview describes it as follows:

A "battle buddy" is a close partner, typically assigned to a soldier in the military. This relationship is intended to provide support, companionship, and a safety net, both in and out of combat. Battle buddies are expected to watch out for each other, intervene if necessary , and offer assistance during challenging times. The concept of a battle buddy can also be extended beyond military service, encompassing any close relationship where individuals provide support and accountability to each other.

I think this is great! I am part of a worship team at my church, and I have a couple of battle buddies within that group. (We don't call them that, but that's what they are.) They are part of my church family, and we look out for each other and check on each other regularly. But I think my cancer group needs this as well. There are over 2,200 of us that are part of the group. We are a mixture of Mantle Cell Lymphoma patients, and Caregivers. The leaders of the group, the Administrators and Moderators, are pretty good about checking up on each other, but I don't know that the normal members are a part of each others lives other than occasionally commenting on posts.

I would like to see that change. There are a few members of the group that I am trying to develop a close relationship with. These are folks I am trying to keep up with on a regular basis. I have met only one of them in person, but no matter. We need people in our lives to share our joys and burdens with. It's how we are wired. Let's deliberately develop these relationships now, before the storm hits. That way there are people we can turn to for support. People we can lean on. A mutual assistance society.

A storm is coming and the water is already rising. Get right with God, and then find yourself a battle buddy.

If you enjoyed this post, check out my book "101 God Thoughts: A Spiritual Journey from Covid to Cancer." It's available on Amazon.

This dock belongs to one of my customers, and is typical for the Low Country.