Wesley acts out "anointing" the tank.
Searching for an illustration to catch the interest of our Sunday School students, we recalled an account from COULD IT BE THIS SIMPLE - A Biblical Model For HEALING THE MIND, about a Sergeant at the outset of Desert Storm in 1991. I so vividly recall the tension of this period, as it was predicted there might be as many as 80,000 U.S. casualties As a nation, we were crying out to God.
Sergeant Smith (not his actual name), well respected for his military skills and also known throughout his battalion as a man of God, commanded an M1A1 Abrams battle tank. While final preparations were underway for an assault of Iraqi forces in Kuwait, the Sergeant anointed his tank with oil... dedicating himself, his men, and his tank to God. Not only did he pray that God would protect him and his men in the approaching battle, but he appealed to God to use them in a special way.
Shortly afterwards, he discovered that (against all his requests to withdraw) his tank, which was now without radio communications and night vision equipment, must face the night attack... blind and deaf. Their purpose became to draw enemy fire... which they did... with a vengeance... taking fire from multiple sources.
Four years after this event, Sergeant Smith was in bad shape. Nightmares... anxiety attacks... flashbacks... depression... relationship problems... the list went on and on. He needed help.
His counselor, after several sessions, made this observation to him...
"You were a Christian. You made a public display of your Christianity. You put oil... all over your tank and dedicated your tank and your men to God. You went into battle blind and deaf. And when your company came under attack, several other units were hit, but not one bullet, shell, or piece of shrapnel damaged your tank."
After he had acknowledged each statement as true, this conclusion was offered him...
"Your Desert Storm experiences remind me of Daniel's experience in the lions' den."
The Sergeant's jaw dropped open... eyes wide and ablaze... as that realization sank in. He had been concluding that God had let him down. Realizing the truth that God had miraculously answered prayer, changed his outlook... and resulted in his recovery.
Perhaps you think that is a bit too deep for kids. No... it is not. We had been studying the Command of Christ, "FEAR NOT." (Matthew 10:28) As part of that study, we learned about BOLDNESS. Look at this Character First definition...
BOLDNESS: Confidence that what I have to say or do is true, right, or just. {The first step to boldness is knowing what is true, right, just.} vs. Fearfulness { opinions, feelings, notions}
The Sergeant's fearfulness was replaced with boldness as he began "camping out" on truth.
We looked at David's boldness facing Goliath vs. his fearfulness and guilt while retreating from his son Absalom.
Learning the first mention of the name of God, LORD Sabaoth {LORD of Hosts, or LORD of battles}, we found out God is interested in our emotional battles as well, as Hannah traveled with her husband to sacrifice to LORD Sabaoth at Shiloh, and then cried out to Him for a child.(1 Samuel 1,2)
Singing A Might Fortress Is Our God each week, and carefully studying the words, reinforced what we were learning.
Wouldn't you love to know how our nature lesson, using the wolverine, fit into the picture?
Using stories... illustrations... makes teaching memorable. Hopefully, the tank story did just that.
