| The Parable of the Two Forts Once there was a kingdom with many forts, but we are only concerned with two of them. At the same time, another fort was right on the border of the kingdom. Almost daily the soldiers fought off raids by the barbarian hordes. Frankly, the place was a mess. None of the soldiers had complete uniforms much less clean ones. The company was never at full strength, the paperwork was always at least two months behind and never filled out correctly. The soldiers even slouched and talked back to their sergeants. Now, did the king kick the commander of the second fort out? Did he even chastise him for not keeping the fort clean and neat and orderly? Of course not! The king was grateful for the people manning the second fort, and understood completely why the paperwork was so far behind and the soldiers so disorderly. Perhaps the king had even assigned that commander to the border fort as a field test to see if he would be a good candidate for promotion to general of his army or to take charge of training new recruits. God is the king, and the barbarian hordes are doubts and temptations. Some Christians live near the capital city, and almost never have to fight off attacks from the barbarians. Others live right on the border and have an almost daily struggle. When you struggle with doubts or temptations, don't despair. God doesn't think less of you for being attacked by the barbarians, and He appreciates all your hard work fighting them off. In fact, He may just be standing back to see what kind of job you can do without His help. He might be preparing you for an important role in helping others! "Be merciful to those who doubt." Jude 22 [NIV] (Copyright June 2000 by Teresa W. Carigan, based on a story I heard several years ago. Permission granted for non-profit use as long as copyright is included.) |