Chaplain Len Patterson - Army of Trans-Mississippi
An Old Man and A Stick!
There may come a time in our life, especially as we get older, that we begin to think we have little left to contribute. We feel we can no longer do what we used to do, or give what we once gave. We begin to feel useless and past our ability to make a difference. Perhaps we begin to feel this way because that's the way the world works. Before the world has any use for us, it wants to know how much we have to offer. They want to know if we've had enough experience or education. Or, they'll ask about our credit report or background. Then, if we don't measure up to the world's requirements, they don't want us. But, thankfully, in John 17: 14-16, Jesus tells us twice that we are "not of the world."
The Scripture says, "God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty." (1 Corinthians 1: 27) In Judges chapters 6 & 7, we read that God used Gideon and only 300 men to save Israel from the great horde of Midianite and Amalekite invaders. Then in Judges 15: 15, the Bible tells how God used Samson with just the jawbone of an ass to slay a thousand Philistines. Of course, we all know the accounts of a young boy named David killing the great Goliath with a slingshot and a stone (1 Samuel 17: 50), and Jesus feeding a multitude with no more than a few loaves and fishes. (Matt. 14: 15-21) God used them, and He can use us, where we are and with no more than what we have. Just as He used an old man and a stick.
Throughout the Bible and history, we find that God used men with little to accomplish much. God does not need men's strength, wisdom, or financial resources to do great things. But, He does need our willingness to be used. The Bible warns us of following after the imaginations of our own heart (Jer. 9: 14), and doing what's right in our own eyes (Judges 17: 6). God cannot use us as long as we are trying to do our own thing and go our own way. To be useful to God, we must be submissive to His will, leadership, and wisdom. Just like the old man and a stick.
Who is the old man and a stick? We see him in the New Testament. In Matthew chapter 17, Jesus ascends a mountain where He meets two great men of the Old Testament. One is the fiery prophet Elijah, and the other is the old man and a stick: Moses! When God called Moses out of the wilderness to do his great work, he was just an 80 year old man with a walking stick. But, God used Moses to confound the most powerful man in the world and lead the Hebrew people out of the bondage of Egypt, through 40 years in the wilderness, and to the very edge of the Promised Land. It was Moses whom God used to receive His Law and write the first five books of the Bible. If God could use Moses, just an old man and a stick, to do this great work, He can use us. If, like Moses, we are willing to be used.
As Christians, it is our desire to be useful to Christ and His Kingdom. As Sons of Confederate Veterans, it is our desire to be useful to our Confederation and our just and righteous Cause. But, to be useful, we must say with the Apostle Paul, "I can do all things through Christ which Strengtheneth (empowers) me." (Phil. 4: 13) We must know that it is the Lord which empowers us to serve and be useful and not our own strength or wisdom, just as it was the Lord that empowered the old man and a stick.
Bro. Len Patterson, Th.D
Chaplain, Army of Trans-Mississippi