In the heat of battle it is very difficult to see clearly as events are transpiring. This came home to me while watching a news documentary about “Robert’s Ridge,” a well known fight in Afghanistan a couple of years ago.

Unfamiliar terrain, weather, surprise attacks and a need to make decisions on the fly contributed to confusion, mistakes, and second guessing. Despite all that, courage, valor, honor and stellar leadership rose to the top and secured the final success of the mission. The participants can look back now and see what went wrong at different stages but at the time, they simply had to do the best they could.

Many of the same elements exist in spiritual battles. You get hit and start reeling around to see where the fire is coming from. You grab your weapon (prayer) to respond and suddenly everything goes dark. Should you do this or that? Hardly time to decide before another missile comes sailing in from another direction.

In such times it is important to remember this: “for the battle is the Lord’s” (1 Samuel 17:47) It may seem like the thick of things to you but God sees the whole thing with perfect clarity. He is never out of control. He is the Captain of the Host of heaven and you are a simple foot soldier.

Listen for your orders. When you don’t know what to do, do the best you can. While the battle rages be courageous, act with honor, keep your eyes on your Captain and trust that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.” (Roman 8:28)