Suddenly, the hairs stood up on my arms and the back of my neck. Something’s not right, I thought as we moved into the small fishing village off a tributary of the Perfume River, five kilometers south of the old Imperial City of Hue, Vietnam. The squad leader was moving too fast as we entered the village.

The tree line erupted with automatic weapons fire, then an explosion propelled me off the trail into the rice paddy. I laid in the water as ghostly shapes appeared. They quickly gathered equipment from the nine dead Marines and our Navy Corpsman and disappeared into the jungle. In 2-3 minutes, it was all over!

I have no idea how long it took for me to come out of the mental fog from the explosion. I realized the two Marines behind me had taken the blunt of the exploding mine. Finding the radio, I called for help. Minutes seemed like hours before the platoon of Marines got to us. I survived that night but returned to the scene for many sleepless nights before God’s healing touch took my nightmares away forever.

Thankfully, few of us will ever experience something like this unless you are in the military and on the front lines of freedom. But many of us do not realize we’re being ambushed by the culture right here in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave (or at least it was at one time).

There are many examples of progressives intentionally trying to destroy the nuclear family. During the rioting in 2020, Black Lives Matter radicals bragged about destroying the family. We feel like we’ve been ambushed. The deck seems stacked against us. We’re outnumbered by power-hungry bureaucrats and a broken legal system. How do we overcome it?

There’s good news and it’s found in the Bible. II Kings Chapter 6 tells the story. Elisha the prophet would warn the king of Israel whenever the king of Syria was setting a trap for him. The Syrian king thought someone on his staff was a traitor. His advisors informed him, It’s not us; it’s that prophet who warns the king of Israel what you speak in your bedroom.

The king of Syria sent his entire army to find and kill Elisha. One morning, Elisha’s servant was making the morning bagel run when he saw the city surrounded by the entire Syrian army. He ran inside and said: Boss, we’re toast! The entire Syrian army has us surrounded! Does Elisha freak out and try to find a place to hide? No. He simply prays and asks God to open his servant’s eyes to see that there were more “for” them than “against” them.

The servant looked again and the mountains around the city were filled with legions of angels in chariots of fire. Suddenly, the Syrians were no longer a threat. Or another way of saying it: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)

As I’ve said before, politics is simply a reflection of the moral corruption of our culture. Prayer is a powerful tool, if we use it! It will not be easy, but it can and will change the course of history if we are faithful to use it.

Something to pray about!