US Army Ranger Jeff Struecker, a part of ‘Operation Gothic Serpent’, was sent on a reconnaissance mission to rescue troops that had been shot down in enemy territory. The ensuing battle would be literally something for the movies. The Battle of Mogadishu as portrayed in the movie “Black Hawk Down” tells the horrific and heroic events of that day. Struecker and his team took on heavy fire but were able to reach Army Ranger Todd Blackburn who was badly wounded. Dragging the wounded soldier back to their Humvee, loading him up and speeding away, the battle intensified. Taking on heavy fire and against all odds, Struecker and his team got Blackburn to safety, only to discover later that one of his men had been brutally and fatally shot during the firefight. Blood covered the back of the vehicle. Shaken to his core, Struecker, a Jesus follower tried to process the loss, when suddenly the unthinkable happened, his commanding officer ordered him to go back into the fight to rescue another downed helicopter. As he prepared the vehicle by washing out the blood stained back seat, terror overtook him for a moment. This thought haunted him, ‘I’m going to die tonight’. It’s moments like this that reveal what’s really inside of us- for Jeff, FAITH began to arise driving back the fear of death. The Spirit of God gave him a quiet confidence:
‘I’m either going to survive this mission and go home to my family OR I won’t survive this MISSION and I’ll go home to be with my Heavenly Father, but either way, I’M GOING HOME!’
A few weeks back, our church family lost a dear brother and friend, Ariel Araza. Ariel went home to be with his Heavenly Father. Like Army Ranger Struecker, he was a warrior and a man of faith. He had the type of faith you read about in Hebrews 11- a faith that never quits, keeps believing and inspires others to greater faith. Ariel was that inspiration to me. Walking by faith is not always as black and white as we’d like to think. Our job as believers is to believe! And we trust the Sovereign Lord with the results. Not all the heroes of Hebrews 11 had stories we necessarily would want, some by faith shut the mouths of lions and some by faith were sawn in two:
“And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets- who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated- of whom the world was not worthy-wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”
Hebrews 11:32-38
I’m proud of our church for believing until the very end- and proud of Ariel, who continued to believe and now has received the end of his faith…..HOME with his Heavenly Father. Please continue to keep Ariel’s wife Libay and his children Luke and Jody in your prayers. We mourn but not as those without hope (1Thes 4:13)