Words, phrases and short, to-the-point bumper sticker philosophies are designed to make us think. Every so often we pick up the gauntlet and accept the challenge of pondering our values against the stark bluntness of a few words. Recently, while flying to a World News and Prophecy seminar, I came upon a phrase that jolted me into a state of deep introspection.

Here I was on my way to offer thoughts and reflections on history, current events and prophecy to others, and smack dab in front of me in an article was a personal lesson in the making for that weekend, and beyond! Here was help to survive in an age of ever-increasing hostility to God.

The phrase that grabbed me came from an article titled "A Clash of Wills at 'Firecracker'" that appeared in the Los Angeles Times on Nov. 3, 2006, written by reporter Julian Barnes. It was an account of a "day in the life" of four Marines in Iraq assigned to a lookout spot rightfully nicknamed "Firecracker," because it is the most dangerous forward position for assessing the movements of insurgents. It vividly depicted the soldiers' precarious routine being suddenly broken up as they came under assault.

Training kicks in

As the men move around and fight in their goldfish bowl of survival, they begin to tire. Certainly there must be incredible physical, mental and emotional fatigue that begins to wear a soldier down, with people screaming, guns blasting, sudden movements here and there, smoke stinging their eyes and then, the eerie silence that betrays the next round of ammunition discharge. Exhaustion sets in! It is here that reporter Julian Barnes captures the battle reality.

It is in the recorded battle-hardened wisdom of a young 19-year-old corporal, Cory Schneider, that I am confronted with the ageless maxim of survival: "As you get exhausted, it is your training that kicks in and keeps you going even if your mind is not there. Not that I am saying my mind wasn't there. But it was muscle memory. You keep doing what you are supposed to be doing."

Muscle memory? How does that relate to the average reader of this publication? What do the soldiers of Firecracker junction and you have in common?

Each of us has a responsibility to use the training we have received in preparation for the respective warfare we have been summoned to wage. One is temporal and the other is spiritual.

In many ways the battle that you have been called to wage at the human level is just as demandingly complex, never ending and exhaustive in nature as the ongoing struggle at Firecracker junction.

Recognizing life's complexities

What do I mean by that? On this Friday after Thanksgiving, I was pondering the vast difference between my world and the world of my American forefathers, the Pilgrims. Their day-by-day existence was sheer survival. Has that much changed since then? No, probably not. It really hasn't. It's still survival, but it is wrapped up in the illusion of materialism and a humanistic notion that man is ultimately capable of solving his own problems.

It is an incredibly beguiling, yet truly thin veneer that separates us from our ancestors. And, it is played out on a much bigger stage that we are all being sucked into almost against our wills.

The Pilgrims' stage was to a large degree only their immediate surroundings. Now, our global village is intertwined, due to technology and the raw reality of the population explosion that is pushing divergent civilizations together. Just as the pressure of grinding tectonic plates results in earthquakes, so this increasing pressure will cause explosive results.

Just this morning, I chronicled a list of discouraging articles: One hundred people were blown up in Baghdad; six people were dragged out of mosques and burned alive; more troops are needed in Afghanistan to quell the growing violence there; a Russian journalistic whistle-blower was poisoned with radioactive sushi; four out of 10 births in America are out of wedlock; some people's desire to annihilate the Jewish state of Israel never diminishes; vitriolic accusations that America is the "Great Satan."

Amazingly, that was all culled after just a few minutes of reading. And folks, the unmistakable message of the Word of God doesn't say there is going to be any letdown.

Foretelling these times, Jesus described them as "the beginning of sorrows" (Matthew 24:8, emphasis added). We have not even hit ground zero of the prophesied wrath of Satan, commonly called the Great Tribulation.

Oh yes, we are in an intersection of life that might well be called Firecracker junction. Things will never be the same. And yet, there is a spiritual silver lining in all of this, for it can cause us to rely upon God even more. Thus, we need to sustain our training and learn what the young corporal means when he talks about "muscle memory."

Just what is muscle memory?

It's an amazing combination of words put before us. Muscle is that sinewy tissue in our bodies by which we flex our will into action. Muscle develops strength by contact with resistance. It simply cannot develop properly apart from external pressure on a regular basis. Memory is defined as the "function or capacity of recalling or recognizing that which has been previously learned or experienced."

Thus, muscle memory is the trained recall that brings forth strength in times of crisis, when one cannot take time to think through how to react.

As we cross the intersection of two calendar years and slip into 2007, we had better be prepared to use some muscle memory. Because when we are faced with trials, we don't find our values in the trial—we take them right on in there with us. The training time is right now, not later.

Please take note: This coming year is not going to be a recess from deteriorating world conditions. The blaring headlines of the clash of the Islamic world with the West are not going to go away. The threat of nuclear proliferation is only going to multiply. The continuing skirmishes of the moral culture wars are going to intensify in the classroom, workplace and the public square. The coarse tone of politics is not likely to soften.

And there are always those ever-waiting-around-the-bend headlines and fault lines in our own personal lives waiting to clash and explode.

Frankly, we can begin to register emotional, mental and spiritual fatigue and simply want to melt into the surrounding population as we say, "Let someone else take the point position" in the cause of God's service.

Human premises or God's promises?

One of the greatest sustaining points of spiritual muscle development that can pull us through the tough times of encountering hostile forces is examining and internalizing the very real and ever-present promises of God in our heart, mind and soul. His promises are not simply delicate platitudes penned by man, but are rock-solid assurances that our God will deliver what He has promised.

And it is now that we must be trained up in the promises of God—otherwise, our spiritual muscle, when depleted and exhausted, will have no memory to draw upon to sustain our action. In such cases, we are left alone with just our human premises based upon the predicament of the time to keep us company, rather than the promises of God to keep us in the fight so we can live for Him another day.

For a few moments, let's consider what it would be like to only exist with our human premises in comparison to the strength of purpose God grants us through His promises. Humanly we say, "It's impossible." God replies, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God" (Luke 18:27). We gasp, "I'm tired." Our Creator says, "I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28-30).

We sob, "Nobody loves me." God reminds us that He loves us (John 3:16). We say in exhaustion, "I can't go on." God gently encourages us, "My grace is sufficient" (2 Corinthians 12:19). We grumble, "I can't figure things out." The Master Designer replies that He will direct our steps (Proverbs 20:24).

How about when you're ready to throw in the towel, and you shout, "I can't do it!"? God returns the thought: You "can do all things through Christ" (Philippians 4:13).

And then, just when our knees start shaking and we don't think we can take one more second, God quietly assures us that we can cast all our cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7). And when the Firecracker junction of our lives explodes with the heat, light and motion of a world gone crazy, and we don't think we can go another step on our own strength, God saves the best promise for last. "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).

Promise memory? Muscle memory? Survival? Yes!

Get a reality check, now!

Long ago, God told His servant Jeremiah to get a reality check. He basically told Jeremiah to "toughen up," letting him know that this isn't going to be a sprint, but rather a marathon, and to start developing some spiritual bulk.

He pulled no punches as He chided, "If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan [River]?"

Young Corporal Cory Schneider could relate to that kind of straight-from-the-shoulder coaching as he and his comrades held on till help arrived. They held on in a subconscious, almost involuntary manner when all the voluntary abilities were exhausted.

Through this soldier, we can learn one more way to apply "This is the way, walk in it" (Isaiah 30:21) as we move into our advancing forward positions for God's Kingdom as a new calendar year dawns. It is a simple lesson and a wonderful reality.

"As you get exhausted, it is your training that kicks in and keeps you going even if your mind is not there...It was muscle memory. You keep doing what you are supposed to be doing"!