Reality has a way of raising up obstacles.”
                   –Louis L’Amour  (How the West Was Won)

       “Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
                   –Joshua 1:9 (NKJV)
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Seventy-five years ago many a young man’s hopes and dreams were dashed on the beaches of Normandy.  It was time to turn the tide against Nazi Germany, but the price would be high.  The beaches, especially Omaha would be drenched with the blood of allied soldiers.  Yes, evil would require a great sacrifice to be put at bay and begin to retreat.  It was the beginning of the end.  It took another year for the German forces to accept defeat, but D-Day, the invasion of Normandy was the start.

                         Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!  
    You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

    Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely.

    But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to
Victory!

    I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!

    Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

                                           SIGNED: Dwight D. Eisenhower

Duty often compels a great price to be given.  Have you ever thought what might have gone through the men’s minds as they left the comparative safety of their ship to the landing craft that would take them to the enemy waiting on the beach?  Would they survive?  Would there be a bullet with their name on it?  Yes, the price of duty is often high.  Yet, it was faced.  Remember that today evil must be faced!  It may not be a bullet, but perhaps the evil that is confronting us/you is even more dangerous for it seeks to destroy your soul.
    Remember, Christ fulfilled His duty on the cross.  Can we do no less than give our all to follow Him?  The battle is raging, but the victory is won.  In your own personal D-Day, “accept nothing less than full Victory!”

They…know who they are, they know what they believe in, and their kind will last.  Other kinds of people will come and go.  The glib and confident, the whiners and complainers, and the people without loyalty, they will disappear, but they…will still be here plowing the land, planting crops, doing the hard work of the world because it is here to be done.  Consider yourself fortunate to know them.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (The Mountain Valley War)

    “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.”
              –Colossians 3:23-24 (NKJV)
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A couple of Sundays ago I heard a sermon:  “If Your Vision Small Enough?”  The idea of the sermon was that we need to be faithful in the things and duties that the Lord has given us before we can look on to the “grand vision.”  We live in a time where preachers clamor for us to claim the grand vision, to leap small buildings with a single bound, dare to dream the impossible.  The problem is that we should be seeking what God has for us.
    The sermon dealt with the family of Kohath.  Their job was to get the vessels of the tabernacle ready to move.  They were Levites, but they could not do the sacrifices, their only job was readiness.  However, if they didn’t do their “small” job, the tabernacle could not be moved–the large scale vision could not be attained.  Their job was to be the carriers of the ark, not the leadership.
    You need to follow the calling that God has given you–the one that God has given you, not the one that you have chosen for yourself.  Paul tells us that there are all kinds of vessels in the house.  You might be saying that you want to be a glorious vase that will hold a beautiful floral arrangement.  However, God may desire for you to be an old pot.  Or He might want you to be an earthen vessel, not one of gold.  
    The Puritan Work Ethic, which is now considered to be archaic, but is entirely biblical, states that God calls people into various vocations.  In whichever one we are working we must work the very best we can–we are to be doing the work for Him.  In doing so, we are actually worshiping.  Worship is not singing; it may be, but it is in fulfilling what God has for us.  We are to love the love with our total being that means with our wills.  To love God with your will means to obey.  It means to become a “living sacrifice.”
    Back to the sermon.  Here are four important things that we must do to properly carry on the work of God.  (Thanks to Weston Berry)
         1)  The smaller vision must take place before the larger vision can take place.
         2)  It takes obedience to worship; to follow your calling.
         3)  Sometimes we need to step back, do the small things, so the larger things could go forward.
         4)  Don’t be so focused on the large things that you neglect the small things.
   Tomorrow we will commemorate June 6–D-Day, the invasion of Normandy.  It was the invasion that finally started to bring an end to the war in Europe.  We should remember those who were killed and wounded on the beach, however, the invasion could not begin to take place without hours and days, and months and even years of preparation, planning, and making sure everything was ready.  Was there enough petroleum?  Was their enough ammunition?  Was there enough food?  Was everything timed out just right?  And on and on and on…  If these “smaller things” were not accomplished, were sluffed off as insignificant, then the large scale invasion could not take place.

The weak, and those unwilling to make the struggle, soon resign their liberties for the protection of powerful men or paid allies; they begin by being protected, they end up by being subjected.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (A Man Called Noon)

    “The struggles of fools weary them, for they don’t know how to go to the city.”
              –Ecclesiastes 10:15(HCSB)
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David is in the midst of great depression.  He may have composed that old ditty at this time, “nobody loves me, everybody hates me…”.  He was alone and undone.  There was no one to help him; even God seemed to have turned His back on David.  Yes, Psalm 22:1-10 (HCSB) is a pitiful scene of despair and no hope.

         1 – My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?  Why are You so far from my deliverance and from my words of groaning?
         2 – My God, I cry by day, but You do not answer, by night, yet I have no rest.
         3 – But You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
         4 – Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You rescued them.
         5 – They cried to You and were set free; they trusted in You and were not disgraced.
         6 – But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by people.
         7 – Everyone who sees me mocks me; they sneer and shake their heads:
         8 – “He relies on the Lord; let Him rescue him; let the Lord deliver him, since He takes pleasure in him.”
         9 – You took me from the womb, making me secure while at my mother’s breast.
        10 – I was given over to You at birth; You have been my God from my mother’s womb.

David is crying out that God is not even there.  He is complaining that God helped his fathers, but that He is not listening to his pleas for help.  David has trusted in the Lord, but nothing seems to be happening.  People are mocking his faith and His God.
    David didn’t know he was penning the words that Christ that would speak from the Cross.  The sins of the world would soon make Him cry out to God, but seemingly God had abandoned Him also.  Where was God when Jesus was on the cross?  Try to imagine the agony, not just the physical pain of Jesus on the cross.  John Row said, “Here is comfort to ‘deserted’ souls.  Christ himself was deserted.  You may be beloved of God and not feel it.  Christ was.”  The “only begotten Son” was now deserted.  What was going through the mind of Jesus, all alone?
    Jesus “who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.” (Hebrews 12:2, HCSB)  He knew what was on the other side.  He knew that the death, hell, and the grave was no match for Him, but still, He was rejected, despised, depressed–alone.
    Perhaps you find yourself in that situation of being alone and depressed.  We all do to some extent, somewhere in life.  Perhaps we are not looking at our situation in the right perspective.  Often God has already given us the means for help and He waits to see if we use them.  The devil would try to get up to murmur and complain, to turn away from the help that is available.  Look at verse 10, how wonderful it is to serve and know God “at birth”!  That’s the purpose of baby dedication, to see the baby serving the Lord from birth, being given over to Him rather than the world.

         “What thou, my Lord, hast thou suffered was all for sinners’ gain;
          Mine, mine was the transgressions, but thine the deadly pain.
          Lo, here I fall, my Savior!  ‘Tis I deserve thy place;
          Look on me with thy favor, and grant to me thy grace.”
                  –Bernard of Clairvaux