One of the many technological advances this modern world has produced is the ability to watch, via live television news, events as they happen around the world. One of these events over the past few years has been the daily news surrounding the wars in both Iraq and Afganistan.

Now that the conflict in Iraq is drawing to a close, television news channels have concentrated their efforts in reporting the welcome home the troops have received in their home countries. These events have been a mixture of patriotic groups cheering and waving national flags at airport arrival halls, coffins of dead soldiers being brought home for burial, to streets lined with thousands, as the troop’s parade through our towns and cities to a rapturous welcome. The crowds calling out: “Welcome home! We’re glad your back! We appreciate you!”

As one watches these television images one feels strangely humbled to be participating in this emotional moment of coming home, and it is virtually impossible not to draw the obvious spiritual parallels. These men and women had taken oaths of faithfulness and service to Queen and country. They fought courageously, lived with deprivation, danger, and disease, and have taken unbelievable risks, all out of loyalty to their nation and in the name of the democracy.

No Nation Last for Ever.
But as great as our nation may be, it is a temporary place. No nation lives or lasts forever. As believers in Jesus Christ, we are all soldiers in the Lord's army. We, too, take oaths of loyalty, sacrifice, and service, but our oaths of allegiance are to a Kingdom that shall never end, a country where there is never a mistake in leadership, where justice is absolute, where poverty, disease, terror, hunger, greed and death holds no power.

The Bible teaches us about the welcome and rewards we Christians will receive when our battle on earth is over. Sadly, too few of us bother to read and study these Biblical passages. It is often left to artists, writers, and theologians to take a stab at imagining what those moments of heavenly welcome will look like. Comedians even joke about "a rabbi, a priest, and a pastor" arriving at the gates of heaven. But at the point of departing this earthly life, we will not be thinking about Saint Peter jokes, but we will be coming to terms with the reality of stepping into eternity.

Paul said, “But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die-but we are all going to be changed……..the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death.” 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52 (The Message Translation.)

What I often think about is this: Will we be surprised when we discover who is there and who gets the biggest welcome?

You see, all of us fight unseen battles every day of our lives, each believer is a secret soldier locked in battle with forces no one else can see. The bravest among us are not necessarily those who fight with guns or tanks. The bravest person you know might be your husband or wife, your neighbour or work collegue who continues to struggle through each day of pain and anguish when every bone in his or her body cries out saying “it's no use.”

How much courage and tenacity does it take to enter this hidden war zone each waking day when an unseen Enemy attempts to fill our mind and spirit with negative thoughts of despair and hopelessness, whispering (or shouting), "Let it go; give up! There is no hope for a better tomorrow"?

Never Give Up.
The loudest cheers in heaven's victory parade may not be reserved for the obvious heroes. They may go instead to the unknown young man who chose to face up to the crushing disappointments of life, but against all the odds, still made a success of life. The most applause might go to the woman who refused to surrender her joy to the evil forces that never stopped reminding her of her past brokenness and the hopelessness of her situation, or to the person who learned to ignore his Enemy's taunts, and arrived at his eternal destination to inherit the rewards and the blessings.

The hidden battles of life often involve hand-to-hand combat leaving us battered, bruised and exhausted. How much more bearable would this daily fight be if we knew we did not have to face it alone, but were aware that our fellow sufferers stood four square behind us?

How much could we lighten the load for another just by telling him how brave we think he is? Oh, to be so merciful and supportive with fellow believers fighting their personal, hidden wars.

The Power of Community.
Best of all, how much better when we bring undisclosed struggles into the heart of community, where victories can be celebrated together, great losses mourned together, and where shouts of encouragement can provide even the most weary travellers, the courage it takes to keep on keeping on, through each day.

Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you……..By this all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.”  John 13:34, 35 (The New King James Translation.)