Oh Say Can You See…?
A Fox News article by Jane Hampton Cook retells the story of the writing of The Star Spangled Banner, our national anthem, by Francis Scott Key on the bi-centennial of that event.
She writes “When sight becomes a gift of beauty and hope, it is called insight.”
Key had boarded a British ship to secure the release of a prisoner of war. While the British agreed to release the man Key found himself temporarily a captive of the British. Seems the two men who would be released had seen and heard too much relating to the pending attack on Baltimore so they could not be freed until the battle was over.
I’m told the siege raged on for 25 hours, all day and through the night, but when the dawn broke and the bombs quit falling and rockets quit firing there stood the fort. You can imagine the feelings that must have overwhelmed Francis Scott Key when, through the mist and the smoke, he witnessed a huge 30x42 foot flag rising to the top of the pole. Baltimore was safe and America was still free and Key, who had witnessed it all from behind enemy lines, would go on to write one of the most time tested patriotic songs ever written.
This stirring account reminded me that in the battle of good vs. evil we are behind enemy lines. In the spiritual battle for the release of men from their sin Jesus went behind enemy lines. This world belongs to the enemy and consequently we must witness all the plans for attacking God first hand. From the destruction of innocent civilians in the act of abortions to the beheading of the front line troops in the Middle East to the attack on faith by our courts and lawmakers and in our schools; we see the enemies plans every time we pick up a news paper or check the headlines through the electric media.
But though we must view the horrifying sights from the camp of the enemy let us not overlook those Holy advances on unrighteous ground. We live in the threat of enemy retaliation but we have a privileged vantage point looking through the eyes of truth with the knowledge of the “more certain word of prophecy”. It’s easy to find reasons for hope that the fortress will be standing in the dawns early light.
I know a husband and father who is not going to let the enemy win. He refuses to conform to the world, but He is going to fight for his marriage whatever that involves because that is what God wants. He’s fighting behind enemy lines.
I just watched a video clip of a TV news anchor proclaiming on air he is dying soon from inoperable cancer yet He is born in Christ and is not going easily and he promises to finish strong and stay at his post until the end. What courage it took to say that on live television, behind enemy lines.
I know people who take to the streets risking retaliation by the enemy to proclaim the word of victory in Christ Jesus.
People, look out from the enemy camp and see the victory that is coming. Rejoice in the knowledge that “the gates of Hell will not prevail”. Our God has already written the end of the story and He wins!
Don’t be afraid; don’t lose hope; the world is full of insightful happenings. In the dawn; victory is His, the dead rise again, the prisoners are freed.