we are never on our own when we face hard choices. In our times of uncertainty we can turn to God through the spiritual resources that are always available to us: Scripture, prayer, and the loving advice of fellow Christians.
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.
September 30
Dan Snaddon grew up in a small town in Scotland, joined the Royal Army Medical Corps, and became a prisoner of war when the Japanese captured Singapore. For almost four years he lived in utter deprivation and was witness to horrible abuses against himself and his fellow prisoners. His story is an amazing witness to the power of his relationship with God and how his prayers sustained him through conditions that seem impossible for anyone to have endured.
After he was released he had time to reflect on what prayer meant to him. He first thought of his mother’s promise to “go (every morning) into your bedroom at 8 a.m. and kneel at your bed and pray for you.”406 He thought of his hometown church and all his brothers and sisters in Christ who kept praying for him, even when they didn’t know if he was dead or alive. He concluded firmly that, “I believe that God answers prayer.”407 He then went on to challenge other Christians about the strength of their beliefs:
Worldly men laugh when Christians mention the power of prayer. We are not altogether surprised at this, but let us take ourselves to task. Do we really believe in prayer? I am inclined to believe that deep down in our hearts we really doubt the power of prayer, although we acknowledge the power with our lips. This was my own experience, but prayer is real. It is something tangible. I have found out from my own personal experience that prayer moves the hand of Him who moves the universe. God answers prayer. It is one of the most powerful and potent means that God has put into the hands of the believer. In fact, one has written that ‘Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.’408
We know that God does not always cure the sick or save those in danger. If we believe the apostle Paul’s words that “to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21), we can safely assume that God’s plan is at work no matter the outcome. But we can take even stronger encouragement from Dan Snaddon’s witness that he has seen God respond to specific prayers, and, especially, that he has been sustained through the direst possible circumstances by his relationship with God through prayer.
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
October
THE INVASION OF FRANCE
D-Day for the invasion of France was June 6, 1944. General Dwight Eisenhower’s mission was simply stated:
You will enter the Continent of Europe, and, in conjunction with the other United Nations, undertake operations aimed at the heart of Germany and the destruction of her armed forces.409
After months of preparation and years of fighting on the periphery, the time had finally come to strike directly at Germany with the aim of ending the war. The scale of Operation Overlord was unlike anything seen before. Three airborne divisions jumped into inland landing zones ahead of the beach landings. Five divisions made an amphibious assault over a fifty-mile-wide swath of the Normandy coast, ahead of fifty more divisions that would eventually pour in to take the battle into Germany. More than five thousand vessels and eleven thousand aircraft were assembled for this massive undertaking, and artificial harbors were created along the beaches to handle the massive logistical flow.
The German units manning the coastal defenses of Normandy were well prepared by this time and offered bitter resistance at almost every point. The first waves of the American 1st Division were hit hardest crossing Omaha Beach. The moment the landing craft ramps went down, they were decimated by accurate machine gun and artillery fire from positions dominating the beach. The high ground was taken by the end of D-Day thanks to the initiative and courage of small-unit leaders and individual soldiers.
Fortunately for the Allies, on a strategic level, the German high command was surprised at the timing and location of Overlord. Even as the Normandy landings were unfolding, they continued to expect the main invasion further north where the beaches were better. Also, the weather seemed to play a miraculous role in events by giving a brief window of opportunity for the invasion during a prolonged period of otherwise impossible conditions. Massive Allied air attacks added to the German confusion and further hampered movement of reserves that could have assisted forces defending the beaches.
By the end of D-Day, one hundred seventy-five thousand Allied troops and fifty thousand vehicles were ashore along the Normandy coast. The cost in lives and materiel was high, but by any measure, the invasion was a complete success. The British had returned and the Americans had finally arrived on the continent of Europe.
October 1
For the individual soldiers the buildup to D-Day was long and tedious. Isolated at bases throughout England, they were kept as busy as conditions permitted but were told little. Everything was a secret, and no loose talk was permitted. Everything had a number: the tents, the vehicles, the men themselves. Many felt they were without identity among countless thousands of others waiting to do an uncertain job at an indefinite time in the future. One correspondent observed that, “It simply drove the mind into a fixed apathy.”410 On June 3 the same correspondent was finally able to report a profound change in this sullen atmosphere:
That evening the soldiers were told the plan and what they had to do. The change was electric. The suspense was snapped. A wave of relief succeeded it. Now that the future was known and prescribed everything would be easier. We were to embark the following afternoon. We would sail during the night. H-Hour was the following morning… As the men stood in their ranks listening to the colonel you could feel the confidence growing. Here at last was something practical and definite, something to which one could adjust
