The Gas Chamber

I was thinking today (yes, I do that a lot). I remembered seeing this video about the Marine Corps boot camp. During bootcamp, the recruits are put into a gas chamber. They have their gas masks on, but the whole point of the exercise is to take their mask off and say their name rank and serial number. My Dad is a former Marine and I remember asking him why they did that. He told me that they expose the recruits to the gas so that, in actual combat, they are not taken by surprise if they are attacked with gas. They've already experienced it and won't freak out. This way they know what it feels like and they can get their mask on without trouble.

I think God does the same with us. We face difficult trials in our lives because God is helping us to know what it will be like when we are in full on combat. He wants us to be prepared for attacks from the enemy. He doesn't want us to be taken by a surprise gas attack. When we are exposed to a little discomfort, we can prepare ourselves to combat the attacks from the enemy. We can recognize what is happening and do what it takes to combat without falling. That is the whole point of the exercise. To keep us in control and keep us from falling.

We can take two views of this. We can view our trials as too difficult and question why God would allow us discomfort. Or we can meet it head on, knowing that we are being prepared for combat.

Lord, prepare me for combat. Help me to know when the enemy is attacking and give me the strength to resist him so that he will flee.