Back in the late 1970s, I worked in the Maintenance Department of what used to be Griswold’s Smorgasbord and Bakery in Claremont, California.
One of my co-workers was a big red-headed guy named Billy (6’4’’, 230 lbs). Billy was a heck of a nice guy who, interestingly enough, was also a Hell’s Angel! Sometimes he’d ride his chopper to work — then rib me about my CM 400 Honda!
Billy had served in Vietnam with the Army Airborne — the guys that are dropped by parachute into combat areas with the task of scouting out and eliminating the enemy. Bill would only talk about his experiences if you asked him. The way he told the stories led me to believe they were true.
He told me about his squad being dropped into an area teeming with Vietcong. The moment they hit the ground a full-scale shootout took place. Within minutes everyone in that squad was dead — except Billy.
He was wounded but still alive. When he saw his comrades were dead he figured he’d better stop shooting or the V.C. would figure out he was the only guy left and he’d be finished. So he kept quiet, finding refuge behind an old tree stump. Pretty soon the V.C. began emerging from the jungle.
Picture this big, wounded soldier hiding out behind a three-foot-high tree stump! He said he had to crouch behind that stump for hours waiting for these guys to leave. Thanks to that stump the V.C. never did see him, and when they left, Billy was rescued.
Comes a time for all of us, that day, that stormy season of assault; those times when we need shelter, safety, a resting place. Ironic isn’t it that we have hundreds of promises, invitations, exhortations in the Bible to seek relief, to find sure refuge in God Himself — yet so often we try to figure things out on our own or we try to “suck it up” and tough it out.
Jesus lovingly, and clearly, directly extends the following invitation to the weary in Matthew 11:28-30: “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (New Living Translation)