Battlefield Fellowship
by Weeping Skye, 10-14-7

“Sarge, Sarge, Sir!”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Sir! I’ve three unaccounted for and three wounded, the medic … well he won’t be able to help us.”

“Wounded?”

“No…no Sir.  Sarge! Watch out…incoming.   Sarge … Sarge, no…no, not you too, not you too.  What do I do now? Lord what do I do now?”

“Jim … Bro. Jim,” Doris, our church clerk whispered softly.  “Bro.  Jim, are you ok?”

“Oh, I’m sorry Doris,” Jim replied with a shudder.  “ I was a young man back on the battlefield for a moment.  Not knowing what to do when the one in command was gone.  Men to lead, lives at stake, wounded, dead, no real experience in combat, thrown in command because of circumstances.  Not unlike here Doris.  Not unlike what has happened here at church.  Thrown in command because of circumstances, no real experience, people to lead, lives at stake, the wounded, and so many unaccounted for.  What do I do now? Lord what do I do now?”

“Jim,” Doris replied, “don’t be so hard on yourself.  God has been preparing you for leadership all your life.  I’ve heard you tell that story before.  Remember what you said you did next?”

“Yeah, I stopped and prayed.”

“Go on,” she said with a smile. 

“I rallied all the men together.  We took care of the wounded as best we could,” a single tear rolls down the big man’s cheek.  “We had a common cause, we worked together, we loved each other like brothers.  We fought for our lives and the lives of each other.  I would have gladly laid my life down to save one of my men.  Doris we were a team, a team with a common cause, common ground, we were a fellowship.  No one had his own agenda, no axe to grind, no complaints.  We were a fellowship, and we fellowshipped.  Their families became my family, and mine became theirs.  We shared our food, our water, our joys, our tears.  I could look deep into the eyes of my men, I knew they loved me, and I loved them.  When I lost one…I cried.  It was like loosing family.  Doris, we were close.  I miss that.  I miss that fellowship.”

“Jim,” Doris cried, “I believe that’s what is missing here.  No fellowship.  Everyone has his or her own agenda.  Complaints about the new building.  Where’s the money coming from and so on and so on.  You may be just the man God needs here.”

“But what do I do now Doris?”

“Remember what you did last time?”

“Yeah…I stopped and prayed.”

With that Doris smiles and says, “Who knows, perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” Isn’t that what Mordecai told Esther?

“Perhaps, Doris, perhaps.” Jim kneels as Doris leaves the study, “God … remember me?”

Scripture: Esther 4:14 HCSB