For several months during my tour I was assigned to a remote outpost along the Afghan/Pakistan border. I was assigned to teach, coach, mentor, train, and advise the leadership of the newly formed Afghan National Border Police.
I found myself several miles from Pakistan on a remote outpost with thirty-five border police soldiers living in conditions of no running water, no electricity, and very little contact with the outside world. For a period of time I was very lucky to be able to use our satellite phone for a five-minute phone call once or twice a week. It was during these times that I learned to rely on prayer to see me through. Feeling very much helpless I learned to lift up Amanda in prayer on a daily basis.
Throughout my deployment I chose two verses (Romans 8:18 and Romans 8:28) to recite when I was down and looking to encouragement. I would pray them and draw upon them for strength.
Romans 8:18 states, “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.”
It is simply amazing when I pondered and reflected upon the future grace that our Lord and Savior would eventually pour out upon us. No matter how many bad days there were in Afghanistan, no matter how down I felt emotionally, no matter how much pain I experienced physically… all that was NOTHING compared to what good things were to come my way. As a believer in Christ, I believed that my suffering was nothing compared to the joy, grace, and love I would experience in a lifetime to come with Amanda as my wife and the love of my life. I took comfort in these verses on a deeper level. I used them to give me courage. If God decided to call me home during that year of service in Afghanistan, all the suffering I endured would be nothing compared to the promise of future grace and glory that is promised to me through faith in Christ Jesus.
Lord, when my shoulders droop with the weight of suffering, keep me steady with the promise of future grace.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)