Can The Military Prepare You For Life's Challenges?

 I'm taking a men's class at church on Wednesday nights. It's Tony Evans' "Kingdom Men Rising". During the last class, a man in the class asked something about if those of us who have been in the military are better prepared to deal with life's challenges. I don't recall the exact question. I didn't get a chance in the discussion to answer him, but I felt my blog would be a good place for my thoughts, especially with the Spiritual Warfare posts I started and haven't pursued.

I say no. Military training is designed for things you'll face in the military, not for life in general. Many veterans leave the military and are not very successful at life. Even while they're still in the military, they are not very good at life in general. Most of that comes from your upbringing or your own attempts at personal growth.

Consider the number of beggars at intersections with signs saying something like "Homeless veteran please help." Many on active duty can't balance a checkbook, can't avoid debt going into collections, and can't even master the relatively simple task of not getting a hooker pregnant or ending up at Medical with Gonorrhea.

I'm not trying to bash my brothers in arms in the least. I'm just making my point that the military doesn't necessarily train you to handle life. They have all kinds of programs available, but I don't think most service members or veterans take advantage of them. I didn't. I don't know if they're any good or not.

You can develop a mindset from the military to give you perspective in life. When everybody is freaking out at work, it's like "OK, so we're going to miss an arbitrary deadline and somebody is going to be mad at us. So what? Nobody is shooting at us, nothing is on fire, and we're not eating powdered eggs. Push on."

It can take a while to develop perspective. I was 24 when I left the Navy. I'm in my late 40's now. When I face a challenge, I just think "Well, I survived Boot Camp, I survived deployment, I survived being fired. I survived divorce, I survived crushing debt. I'll survive this too. It's not a big deal."

In the military you may hear the phrase "embrace the suck." Some things just suck, and all you can do is keep pushing through them. I've heard a quote attributed to Winston Churchill that goes something like "If you find yourself going through Hell, keep going."

I had a thought many years ago about the wilderness and preparation. Moses spent 40 years herding sheep before God called him to go back to Egypt. I imagine this former prince needed to be properly humbled before undertaking that task. Even Paul spent 3 years in Arabia in preparation for his ministry.

Sometimes when we find ourselves in the wilderness, maybe it's just God preparing us for some task ahead. Just keep pushing. Embrace the suck. Spend the time praying and learning what you can. Read some books. Try to develop new friendships. Expand your horizon if you can. Sooner or later, you may find yourself restored or called into something greater.

Proverbs 18:1 has become something of a "life verse" for me:

18 Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; 

he breaks out against all sound judgment. 

 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Pr 18). (2016). Crossway Bibles.

Don't allow yourself to become isolated. It's a trap. When you're isolated, you may end up with the heretical thought that you're alone. Nobody else is facing this, and nobody is qualified to help. It's delusion. If you reach out, you may find (you will find) that you're not the first to go through this, and you won't be the last. This is why we need some kind of spiritual fire teams. We are not meant to be a spiritual "Army of one" (one of the US Army's WORST recruiting slogans.)