I have recently been reading stories of faith and courage from those during the Civil War era. During this time, this brought a huge dilemma to the preachers in the North and South. Unlike other wars, this war pitted America against America, brother against brother. It must have been hard for them to know what God wanted from them in such a terrible time in our nation's history.
Pastor Joseph Atkinson spoke to the heart of the matter in his Thanksgiving day sermon on September 18, 1862:
"Never were Christians called to more diligence, self-denial, courage, benevolence and industry than at this solemn juncture; and it is, at such a time as this, that God and all good men are most fruitfully active. In a contest like this every man must serve his country according to his ability and in his appointed sphere. Everyman must find the place and the duty suited to him, and to which he is suited. None can be more important than practical, prayerful labor for the religious welfare of our heroic soldiers; directly seeking their salvation by preaching to them by writing and distributing tracts, hymns and Bibles and by praying for them, by tender sympathy with them in the trials and temptations to which they must be inevitably exposed. If God should breathe over these Confederate States the spirit of devotion, of humility, of dependence and of faith, it would be better than any victory in the field, however brilliant, for it would be at once a proof of His favor and a pledge of our prosperity."
Even though the South lost the war, it gained much in the spiritual realm. Confederate men and women learned devotion, humility and dependence on God.
When we go through battles in life, we may not win every one but we can gain much if we are willing to learn from our defeat.
1 Samuel 15:22,
Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrificesas much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
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