“The final event during the war that brought the presence of God close for me was in April 2003,” Commander Rob Thomson explained. “Our Marines had pushed through Southern Iraq and were now approaching Baghdad. It had become impossible to properly supply them with food, water, and ammunition from the sea, so we needed to set up a supply depot ashore. I flew by helicopter with a few others to a place called Jalibah that is in the desert west-northwest of Basrah.”
Because Jalibah was mostly just abandoned buildings, it was a good location for a supply depot. After surveying the area, Thomson and the others began to plan the logistics of getting supplies there and coordinating their dissemination. One of the most obvious challenges was the sand itself.
“There is a difference between the desert there and those here in the United States. The sand in Iraq is very fine. There’s always sand in the air, and at night the sky can be pitch black,” Thomson observed.
Because of the United States invasion, lights were out in Iraq and electricity was spotty. As Thomson took stock of the sand and the pitch-black horizon with only the stars and moon providing light, he realized how similar these primitive conditions must have been when Abraham lived in the same region.
“As I lay there at night on my cot in my tent, I thought to myself, ‘I wonder if Abraham slept here?’ We were very close to where archaeologists believe was once Ur of the Chaldeans, the original home of Abraham,” he said.
God’s omniscience and omnipresence took on a new meaning for Thomson in that moment. “It struck me that the same unchanging, all-powerful God who had watched over Abraham in this very spot 4,000 years before was now watching over me.”
And he slept soundly that night in the dark desert taking comfort in God’s permanent hand. A tent may have been his temporary shelter, but Thomson knew his ultimate dwelling was in the eternal house of the Lord.
Thomson left the Middle East in June 2003. He became a physics professor at the Naval Academy and retired in September 2007 after twenty years of service in the Navy.
May I dwell in you today. Your permanency throughout generations gives me hope for eternal life with you.
“Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” (Psalm 23:6)