In 1942, a little boy was born into a poor unstable family - so poor, he was sent to his just-as-poor grandmother in Arkansas. As a young kid, a family member gave him a rifle that could shoot only one bullet at a time. After some training it was his responsibility to provide meat for the evening meals. The pressure was so great, it didn’t take long before he became a master sharp shooter.
Carlos Hathcock eventually joined the Marine Corp and earned the title of the most dangerous sniper, with the Vietnamese placing a $30,000 bounty on his head. His camouflage consisted of twigs, vines, grass and anything else that resembled the earth. He became the terrain in which he crawled. A snake crawled over his body, bugs bit, itches could not be scratched, hunger and thirst tried to consume him; but all that was on his mind were his “missions.” He could not fail.
On one occasion he crawled by increments of one inch at a time covering 1,500 yards. It took 4 days and 3 nights to reach his target. His successful shot was made at 700 yards and yet he was never caught. His constant thoughts were to evaluate himself, the shot and what was going on around him. He observed everything, knew his weapons, and above all, was diligently patient.
God has called each one of us to war, not with a physical enemy we can see, but with forces that reside in the spiritual realm which we cannot see. As Hathcock clothed himself with defensive disguises, so God provides all the weapons of warfare we need to protect us from head to toe. Ephesians 6:10-18 says that our armor consists of a belt of truth to cover our loins, a breastplate of holiness that protects our hearts, coverings for our feet for firm-footed stability, a shield to protect us from the arrows of the enemy, and a helmet to protect our minds. The final piece is the Sword of the Word - 5 of defense, 1 of offense.
God says that one bullet - one word coming from Him is enough to destroy the works of the enemy. There are different kinds of bullets. A birdshot bullet contains many small pellets that when shot, disperse within a wide spectrum; buckshot fills the bullet cartridge with larger pellets - more powerful but spreads its effect widely too. The single bullet contains all its power in one flash, concentrating its blow at one location. As Hathcock needed one bullet to complete his mission, we need only one word from God to do that for us.
What would happen if we were patient enough to move slowly, asking God to tell us what He was doing regarding a situation, trusting that He would put us in exactly the right place at the right time to make the perfect move or say the appropriate word to complete His mission?
Father, help us to trust that Jesus already won the war, and that we just need to patiently wait to hear when we need to shoot the firearm you placed in our hands for the present battle, or watch as you fire Your Own weapon of war against our enemy. Amen
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