A Call to Arms

My wife and a friend of ours had some good discussions last week, which resulted in two distinct events.

The first was the prayer time that they called us to. We sat in our kitchen and cried over the marriage losses we have seen and the ones looming on the horizon. We prayed for new marriages and the difficulties that they will face.

The second was later that night as my wife shared a vision, a desire of the heart. She envisioned men dressed in battle uniform standing in a circle as a hedge of protection around the congregation, covering the house, and in unison dropping to their knees in prayer.

Our friend has for years encouraged many men, including me to step up, to take the role as leaders. Why are we so reluctant? Why do we hesitate?

My wife’s vision has touched my heart. Our Friend’s prodding and encouragement have touched my heart. Although I can see the skit and have written some lines as to how this could play out, I see the need and the desire for so much more than a skit. I see it as a call to arms. I see it as a call for men to step up and take their rightful place. The question is…. will they?

Are there men who will truly take an active role in praying, in counseling, in encouraging? Are their men who will stand up as a symbol of their resolve, as a symbol of their faith?
We are in a battle; we can ignore it and sit it out on the sidelines (and the enemy is willing to let us do just that,) while family after family fall apart, while depression, unemployment and even suicide prevail. I’m already tired. Tired of seeing people I care about leaving our church and them never knowing what they meant to me. Tired of marriages failing because they see it as a contract and not a covenant. I can’t stand the thought of us raising our children in the church and them walking away from it later in life. I’m tired of loosing.