Tune in and learn some World War II history with Joni and her cohost Shauna.
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SHAUNA: I’m Shauna, with Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. Thanks for listening today. And you might not know this, but Joni and Ken are World War II buffs. They know all about the Normandy landing and the Battle of Iwo Jima.
JONI: And the Battle of Britain. Shauna, it was amazing. It was the scrappy, small British Air Force up against the massive Nazi Luftwaffe who were dropping bombs over the British Isles. And the British pilots were vastly outnumbered; no match against solid formations of Nazi bombers. The survival of Great Britain was hanging on by a slender thread – and that thin thread was in the hands of those young fighter pilots. They were daredevils who loved England and were willing to risk their lives for victory. Whenever enemy planes were spotted on the radar across the English Channel, the command was, “Scramble!” Then it was race to your planes, jump in your aircraft, roar down the runway, and madly pilot your plane upward to win advantage over the enemy – yes, that’s right, the advantage was to get above the Nazi squadrons. It was all about gaining altitude so that they could shoot down on the enemy! And in the end? The brave pilots of Britain held off the Luftwaffe, shooting down 56 Nazi planes while losing only 28 of their own. These men truly bled and blasted their way through to victory.
SHAUNA: Wow, Joni it sounds like there’s a real spiritual lesson there.
JONI: Well, this is not just a history lesson. It’s a lesson for us Christians. And it’s drawn from the Reverend Robert Arthur Mathews who was a major in the British Army and then served in China as a missionary. During his military service, Arthur Mathews drew a parallel spiritually from the Battle of Britain. He said, “In every spiritual battle, the believer has [already] been granted the privilege of instant altitude by his faith. For the believer who is under [spiritual] attack? This altitude is a vital factor. We win only when we fight downward.: You see, when God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, He set Him in the seat of authority ‘far above all rulers and authorities, powers and dominions.’ And since God made us co-heirs with Christ [as part of his body], we are also seated ‘with Him in the heavenly realms.’ We’re citizens of that heavenly realm – a realm that is far above the prince of the power of this air.”
Then Reverend Matthews goes on to say, “The business of war is learned in war, in actual combat situations, not from theories or drill exercises. And from only one position is it safe to grapple with the powers of darkness. And that position is in Christ who sits in the highest heavenlies, so high that Satan and his hosts are completely vulnerable. And when Paul says in Ephesians, ‘Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power,’ our strength in the Lord is achieved as we reckon by faith on what God has already done for us. We are in Christ – we are seated up in the heavenly realms. We never need to claw our way upward. We are fighting downward on the enemy. And in Christ? That makes us more than conquerors.”
So, we can be confident in Christ – and only in Christ – when we battle against doubt or fear, anxiety or anger. And remember that you are “in” Christ. And honestly, you would love reading more about the amazing story of this missionary, Arthur Mathews and his harrowing experiences in China when it fell to communism. We can learn a lot of lessons from these insights. And I’ve got a link to his inspiring story at joniradio.org. Right, Shauna?
SHAUNA: That’s right! That’s joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends