Recovery Step 1: In the Trenches

It is a forgotten time, written off as too distant to matter any longer except to a few historians. Yet at the time it was considered something to never be forgotten; they called it the war to end all wars. Of course that title proved grossly incorrect as World War II broke out just twenty years later. I recently watched 1917, a movie about a British soldier’s desperate attempt to get a critical message through German territory to other British units. When I think of World War I, several things come immediately to mind, one of them being the sinking of the Lusitania by a German U-boat, another is trench warfare. I suppose there are relatively few Americans that know much about WW1’s history or the horrors of trench warfare. Even the phrase, “in the trenches” used in reference to struggling through the hardship of some personal crisis is not a phrase often heard any longer. I am not going to give you a historical overview of WW1, but let me assure you that battle in the trenches of WW1 proved terrifying in many ways. You can look it up if you want more info, let me just say deep mud and water, overflowing toilets, dead bodies, disease, and nightly swarms of rats.

By comparison, maybe being stuck in your house isn’t as bad as you thought it was getting to be. We are now heading into a second, or is this the third week of quarantine due to covid19. It is a serious health issue and we do need to take it seriously. I don’t know what the rest of 2020 will bring but I can say that if the Lord tarries long enough, this outbreak will be forgotten like the trenches of WW1 and, oh yes, the Spanish-flu (H1N1) outbreak of 1918. It had already started by the end of WW1. That flu epidemic affected an estimated 500 million people and an estimated 50 million people died from it, 675,000 in the US. How many of us remembered that? It is written in the history books, you know, the ones no one reads because history is supposedly irrelevant.

Maybe being quarantined in your comfortable home with running water, heat, electricity, and yes, flushing toilets isn’t so bad. By the way, toilet paper was sold commercially for the first time in 1857, created by a man named Joseph Gayetty. I know that seems like a long time ago, but wide-spread use of such a product didn’t happen until much later and that means that mankind survived without TP for thousands of years (don’t get me started on the millions and billions of years thing).

I don’t know how things are at your house. I suppose that it gets pretty lonely if you are by yourself and that it is possible that things get a little testy if you are not alone. Both of those situations are frustrating and take a toll on you. Those situations, compounded with the stress of health concerns for yourself and people you care about, and not being able to do things you need to do because so many businesses are closed or government offices are completely overloaded, are a breeding ground of trouble. The trenches in WW1 bred all kinds of disease, stress and strife. In such times, people naturally seek some form of escape or at least a coping mechanism. For many, that leads to some kind of addiction. An opioid epidemic began during and after the American Civil War. Morphine and cocaine addiction was rampant during and after WW1. WW2 brought amphetamines and Nazi Germany even distributed Pervitin pills (early crystal meth) to the soldiers of the Third Reich. In Vietnam it was dextroamphetamine, twice as potent as the Benzedrine of WW2. Besides this, speed, marijuana, opium and heroine were also commonly used. Then of course there is always, alcohol, prostitution and sex crimes that must be mentioned as common addictions during and after all wars.

Right now you may be thinking, Wow, Pastor Mark, this is a really depressing blog you’ve got going for us. Talking about addiction and how it reaches out to us, particularly in times of stress, conflict and isolation can certainly be depressing, especially if it hits home. Sorry I had to do this, but what I really want to do now is encourage you with other options.

Look, you can’t sit around being depressed from isolation or interpersonal conflict with those you live with and care about. That will drive you to seek escape or some artificial way of coping that is addictive. That includes not only food, alcohol, drugs and sex, but also gossiping on the phone or social media. Those are all options, sinful ones, but they are options that many people are going to right now. You cannot dwell on difficult circumstances and think you won’t seek some way of artificial escape. There are better options for dealing with your current circumstances.

Recall a post on our firstbaptistchurchnb.blogspot,com site not long ago titled “Blind Bartimaeus.” In that post I encouraged you to find ways throughout each day to focus on the Father, Son and Holy Spirit through praise and thanksgiving. You can do that through music, talking to a brother or sister in Christ, and certainly through reading the Word. It is a must.

So, what you need to do is stop dwelling on the negative, fearful, stressful things by focusing instead upon the glory of God, upon who He is, and upon the abundant grace poured out upon you by Him. If you are discouraged, or worried or fearful, you need to open your Bible to Ephesians 1, Romans 8, Hebrews 1 and 11, Colossians 1, Philippians, Psalm 32, Job 38-40 and a great many other passages. Put on some of your favorite praise music and let it vibrate the walls of your house. Call a brother or sister in Christ and tell them how much they mean to you and then pray with them and for them, over the phone.

If you feel like the walls are closing in on you, like darkness is creeping closer, then let the Light shine! As a believer in Jesus Christ you are a child of Light. For “God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all…walk in the Light as He is in the Light” (1 John 1:6-7). “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous Light” ( 1 Peter 2:9).

Stand up and praise the Lord, for He is eternally good and caring and powerful and sovereign and loving, and that includes today and tomorrow! Doing so is not merely finding some way of escape, it is the way to find strength and healing for your soul.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Mark