Day 130 - Drill Instructor

Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.

**********

"It isn’t long before that drill sergeant of a voice coming from our soul sounds more like a distant whisper. Soon, the quietness of a depleted soul is replaced with the ever-growing voice saying that you are no good. Victim thinking can be the result of a soul that has grown weary of trying to bring world-driven prosperity into the life of a human being."

As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 112.

When our souls are at their best, they are like a drill sergeant. Have you ever seen a drill sergeant? I knew a young man who was a drill instructor in the Marines. I made the mistake of calling him a drill sergeant - I found out that's what they call this special breed of people in the ARMY. I quickly learned that you don't mistake a Marine position for one that is held in the ARMY. I'll never make that mistake again. 

Drill instructors or drill sergeants are people who have a very specialized job. They take average people like you and me and break us down to the point where we can be built back up again to become an effective fighting machine. They aren't subtle about what they do. I haven't met one yet that hasn't done permanent damage to their voices from all the yelling they do at recruits under their tutelage. 

It isn't that these people necessarily like being mean. It is that they have been trained in a process that helps the recruit get to a place where they have the best chance of surviving war time conditions. If they appear to be mean it is because they are trying to prepare young men and women to do their best in situations that the average person wouldn't otherwise ever be able to deal with. 

When you hear a drill instructor give a command it isn't something you soon forget. The shear volume and force of their voice is enough to make grown men cringe. That's how our souls are when they are at their best. The will, intellect and emotions combine to form the perfect drill instructor. Just like their human counterpart, the drill sergeant of a soul is there do help us survive in a dangerous world. 

It is when the soul has been beat up by this world that that strong, authoritative voice of the soul starts to sound like a pathetic whisper. When the soul comes to the place of exhaustion as a result of fighting the possibility of a crewel world that the drill sergeant voice of the soul becomes something we can barely hear. What replaces that authoritative voice is the voice of doubt and fear. That's a voice you soon don't forget either. It is that other voice that can cause real victim thinking possibilities for those of us trying to live this life as the victor God has called us to be. 

When the soul has reached its breaking point we can really start to believe how bad the world tries to make us see our lives as being. We can question whether we are of any use to this world at all. Our goodness looks like nothing. Our ability to do anything right seems to be the last thing we can ever trust in our lives. When the drill sergeant voice of the soul is quietened by the badness of this world we are in real trouble as far as victim thinking is concerned. 

Take a look at this horrible sounding Bible verse with me. 

You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. Deuteronomy 28:66 (NIV)

I believe this is exactly what if feels like when the voice of the soul has been extinguished. Suspense, dread, lacking assurance... all characteristics of someone who is firmly stuck in victim thinking. Let me say something as emphatically as I can, this is not how God intended you to live in this life. 

It is my opinion that we get to this point when we rely entirely on the soul to do a job it was never intended to do. Our soul was never to be the gateway between the spiritual world and the physical world as it has been since the fall of Adam and Eve. Our soul was to be empowered by the spirit in ways that work to make change in this world happen. We use the soul to help us achieve the good life goals we want for ourselves and wonder why our lives end up sounding like today's reading when our souls can no longer live up to the impossible tasks we push its way.

The soul isn't weak - it is just doing the wrong job. It is the spirit's job to tap into the heavenly's for direction in what we are to do and to lead the way when it comes to making what God has for us turn into a reality here on earth. When the soul is tasked with being on high alert to protect the spirit 24/7 it comes to a place of total exhaustion. When the soul is led into battle by our spirit communing with God's spirit it can't help but to thrive in ways that turn our natural abilities into supernatural results. This is particularly the case when God allows us to step into deep and dark places where His light will shine out of us no matter how circumstances turn out in our lives. 

Just like those fresh recruits being yelled at by that drill instructor are being prepared for battle, we too are being trained for a war that is going on all around us. Spiritual warfare is a real prospect in the life of a believer. Our souls are completely up to the task of helping us fight this war, but our will, intellect and emotions can't do it alone. We need the spirit's leadership. Isn't it time we got our spirits involved in the battles happening all around us?

Today you have a choice when it comes to the soul. You can continue letting your soul be the driving force in your life or you can let the spirit take charge. I guarantee you that if you choose to let the soul stay in command, one day that strong voice of your soul will die down to a faint whisper.

Before that happens, let the spirit take charge. Ask God to fire up your spirit and calm down your soul in a way that the two can work together. I can't guarantee that you will live a victorious life in the ways you want life to look. I can state with some confidence that one of the results of letting the soul come under the authority of your spirit today will be you living like the victor God has made you to be.