Invincible
It was the best month of my career and I still had a few days left in the month. The previous month was one of my top five best months and the next month was looking very positive, too. I was the top salesman in the company. Things were looking very good. I don’t like to use the word invincible, but it was as close to that as I have ever felt in my entire life. Surely the corporate world must have noticed my numbers.
With just a couple days left to go in my record breaking month, the regional manager called me to the back of the store. I thought it was going to be a positive meeting. Instead, for the first time in my career, I was written up because I had not come up with enough new customers. I was totally heartbroken. “What?” I thought. They couldn’t wait a few more days and let me enjoy my best sales month ever. For all my sales, I couldn’t stop this thing from passing me by.
They both had their pistols pointed at the other’s head. They were fully cocked and ready to fire off at a deadly force. Neither side was willing to back down. Neither side wanted to trust the other side and return their pistol to the holster. So there they stood staring each other down. The crowd looked on in stunned silence. What would happen if one of them got nervous and had a little twitch in their finger and set the pistol off? The other side would have no choice but to return the fire. If the pistols were fired, no one would win. If one side eased up there was the fear they would be shot.
A nuclear weapon is a very dangerous weapon. An entire city can be wiped out by one. It seems like, ever since the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan and other nations acquired the ability to make their own nuclear weapons, the United States has been working on treaties to eliminate or reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world. But just like the two guys aiming the two pistols at each other, the two big super powers were afraid to put down their weapons.
There was another new leader in Moscow who seemed to be just as stubborn as the Secretary Generals of the past. Our President came into the job with the high hopes of ridding the world of these weapons or at least make them ineffective to a course of destruction. Being the President of the United States, he was one of the most powerful men in the world. The Secretary General was also one of the most powerful men in the world. The President approached the Secretary General and in his autobiography he explains what he told the Secretary General: “Now we were the leaders of our countries and probably the only two men in the world who could bring about World War III. At the same time, I said, we were possibly the only two men in the world who might be able to bring peace to the world.”
During the Roman Empire’s reign, they had a mighty army. One of the commanders of some of their units was called a Centurion. A Centurion was a highly regarded leader who could be elected, appointed by the Senate, or just be promoted up through the ranks. The position also had the added attachment of being a very important status symbol. The gentleman, who served in this position, also had to be clean, well-dressed, literate, at least thirty years old, served in the military and have connections (references). These men were known for their size, strength, dexterity, and their skills at using a sword. They were paid two to seventeen times what a normal soldier would be paid. But they weren’t just pretty boys. They were expected to execute the orders they were given without questions or discussion. Strict discipline was expected of them. They were to lead and inspire by example. There were high numbers of casualties among this group because they were expected to be on the front lines right beside their fellow soldiers in battle. With their regal uniforms they stood out from the normal soldiers and made easy targets for the enemy.
The doctor entered the room with a solemn look on his face. The President’s wife was in surgery and the news was not good. She had entered the hospital because the doctor had detected a possible tumor on her left breast during her mammogram. The news was that the doctor had found a malignancy and they decided a mastectomy was in order. The President, who loved his wife so very much, was devastated. He said he just dropped his head and cried.
One day a Centurion came up to Jesus. I’m sure Jesus probably took one look at this towering figure and wondered what he was pursuing Him for. He didn’t do anything wrong and was not causing any trouble. With a cracked voice, this man, who could bark orders at a 100 soldiers, without emotion, relayed his requested. One of his servants was very sick and he wanted Jesus to heal him because he knew, despite all his power, he was helpless in this situation. Jesus’ heart went out to the man. He said He would follow the Centurion to where the ill man was. With faith that astonished even Jesus, the Centurion said that would not be necessary, because illness would flee the man just with Jesus’ command, not because Jesus visited the sight. Jesus acknowledged the Centurion’s belief and right there, even though he was some distance away, He healed the servant.
When Ronald Reagan sat at Bethesda Naval Hospital and listened to the doctor’s message about his wife, Nancy, he was absolutely stunned. It reminded him that he had human limitation just like anyone else. He went on to state, “For all the powers of the president of the United States, there are some situations that made me feel helpless and very humble.” The man, who with the push of a button or the stroke of a pen, could send a nuclear missile toward an enemy or just as easily could send that missile to the scrapyard, was helpless in the hands of helping remove an illness from someone he loved.
Sometimes we feel life is all about control. Sooner or later we will figure it out that our control is very limited when it counts the most. It is in those moments we need to have the faith of the Centurion and then God, in His way, will get us through our trouble.
Prayer: : Dear Mighty Father, When life is going very well and I think I’m invincible, please help me to remember that is not the case, lest I fall. Please grant me the wisdom to know that it is You, not me, that is always in control. Amen.
