Our Fullest Desk.... Potential in Every Part of Life:

 On 5th July, I (Ken Matthews) had the pleasure of being present as the new Chief of Defence General David Hurley and Bishop Len Eacott (Anglican Bishop to the ADF) launched Faith under Fire. The DVD course explores the place of faith in the modern Defence Force. It serves to affirm the importance of spiritual resilience, to promote the importance of faith, and recognises the influence of the Christian faith on our beliefs, Defence values and Australian culture. The course also provides a framework for ethical values, decisions and behaviour while encouraging ADF members to consider some of ‘life’s big questions’. It is suitable for anyone with an enquiring mind, regardless of service, rank, belief or religious persuasion.

From what I have seen of this project so far, it has the potential to impact personnel preparing for deployment and/or life in general. Everyman’s, in co-operation with the Chaplains, with whom we serve, will certainly be supporting Faith under Fire it in whatever way we can.

So why do we need something like this, you may ask?

If we are honest with ourselves, how often have we felt fearful or totally helpless in life’s situations? Such as facing the terminal illness of a loved one, or if we have to be discharged from the service we love for reasons beyond our control, or indeed if we lose someone close on operations in Afghanistan.

It is in these situations that we can find ourselves caving in to fear and uncertainty… will we cope with what an uncertain future could bring?

From personal experience I have learned to understand the importance of knowing there is something, indeed Someone, beyond just the here and now who knows me better than I know myself, and has created me to do good for all those around me. This good has an eternal significance. “I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future,” are the words of a poster I saw many years ago that continue to encourage me and offer me peace and strength to this day.

John Lennon is supposed to have said at the pinnacle of his fame regarding all he had acquired,”I’d give it all away for a little peace of mind”. 

But it is that assurance that all will be well, not only in the immediate future but for all eternity, that Jesus Christ offers all of us today. While He does not deliver us from all of life’s sorrows, the saying is true that He does comfort and strengthen us, in those sorrows. 

The words of the Lord God Himself to His people were “I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find me when you seek Me with all your heart.”¹

In the New Testament Jesus assures those who seek His strength and direction that He is the Caring Shepherd, with the well-being of His sheep uppermost in His mind. He speaks these comforting words saying “I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief (a metaphor for the devil and that which takes us away from our Creator) comes only to steal and kill and destroy: I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”² In other words, the eternal peace that John Lennon yearned to have can be ours. There can be no doubt the pressures of deployment and the uncertainty that may lie there, could cause great anxiety. God, who became man in Jesus, is the only one who can assure us all of His guiding hand for the ultimate good over our lives, and assurance of blessing in life eternal beyond this world.

It is for this reason, among many, that I am encouraged about how initiatives like Faith under Fire can lead us to our fullest potential in all walks of life, as we walk in step with our Creator, and live out as fully as we can, the purpose He has created us for. 

Ken Matthews - Everyman’s Commissioner

Ph: (02) 8762 1503 Mob: 0413 074 818

¹ Jeremiah 29:11-13, ² John 10:9