• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Lutheran Military Support Group

Supporting Lutheran active duty, veterans and their families.

  • News, Articles,
    Grants & Events
    • Their Stories Told
    • Active Duty/Veteran Profiles
    • Awarded Grants
    • Calendar of Events
  • Ammo Cans,
    & Resources
    • Printable Resources (Veteran’s & Memorial Day)
    • Christian Service Members’ Handbook
    • Ammo Can Request
    • Synod, Govt., & VA Assistance
    • PTS Support
    • Request a speaker
  • Ideas from
    the Trenches
  • Liaison Info,
    LMSG Board
    • Liaison
      Information
    • LMSG Board
      Members
  • Live Streaming
    Church Services
    • Past Devotions

Weekly Devotion: I Don’t Know

08/19/2017 By swentzlaff

And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell (II Corinthians 12:3,4).   

The soldier was wounded. But he didn’t think he was dying until the chaplain told him to prepare to meet God. He reports that shortly afterward, “A wall of light like a silvery screen appeared against the jet black background. A kaleidoscope as well as a multi-colored projection of my entire life cycle, from my very birth and babyhood up to that moment when I received the news.”

The vision continued. He saw himself flying through the universe, past planets, stars, and galaxies, but then his whirlwind path through the cosmos bends and he returns to earth. There he saw himself pass through a narrow little window into the hospital ward, and back into his own waiting body. What was that? Hallucination? Dream? A near-death experience? The soldier said, “I don’t know.”

The Apostle Paul had a similar experience. His trip was not through the solar system, but up into heaven. There he heard things he could not express. As to if this was an out-of-body experience or not, the Apostle wrote: “I do not know.” What he did know was that God allowed him to have an in-heaven experience. At times, we too may experience things that we cannot explain. People have seen things, and felt they have done things, that are humanly impossible. Sometimes this greatly bothers them. Sometimes it scares them. Many times, it occurs in connection with a traumatic event. But not always. Maybe this has already happened to you. If not, maybe it will. Or, maybe it will happen to a loved one.

What are we to do when we do not know what is happening? What are we to think when what we see doesn’t make sense? What should we believe when it seems that we have come face-to-face with the li

fe beyond? The same thing we have been doing all of our Christian life. We fear, love, and trust in God above all things.

What should we be afraid of when this life does end? The smiling face of Jesus? Surely not! And certainly, not the place in heaven that the Savior has prepared for the one he loves! Many are the times in life we may need to say, “I do not know.” But not regarding the love of God or his plans for us.

Concerning whatever he reveals to us we must always say: “This is most certainly true.”

We can join in the words of Job:

I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;  I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

Written by Pastor Paul Ziemer, WELS National Civilian Chaplain and Liaison to the Military, Cape Coral, Florida-Provided by WELS Ministry to the Military

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Weekly Devotions

Previous Post: « LMSG President Addresses 2017 WELS Convention
Next Post: WEEKLY DEVOTION-WE WIN »

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Just Do It 02/19/2021
  • The Meaning 02/12/2021
  • Recognized 02/05/2021
  • Brothers 01/29/2021
  • Poor Rachel 01/22/2021

$upport Our Cau$e JOIN OUR CAUSE

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn

Footer

External Links

LMSG is affiliated with the churches of the CELC, including:

ELS-logo-web

ELS-logo-web
WELS Privacy Policy 

copyright © Lutheran Military Support Group-2019


Lutheran Synod Digital Publishing

Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.