Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word. (Ephesians 6:17)
A military family facing a holiday deployment needs to make extra preparation. The first reaction is often to treat the upcoming months like a siege–batten down the hatches for the long haul and treat this as a defensive maneuver. Truthfully though, that’s the worst thing to do.
This is actually when we need to go on the offensive. We need to reach out to those around us. But more than that, we need to look up and fix our eyes on God. I found, through experience as a military mom, that by arming myself with the Word of God, I was able to battle all the things that came my way while our son was serving in a war zone.
I stockpiled verses, recording them in my deployment journal and marking them in my Bible. Having them close at hand made it easier to fight the emotions that threatened to overwhelm me.
These are some of my favorite verses for deployment, and I found myself returning to them again and again.
First, there’s Psalm 91 (also known as the Warrior’s Psalm) as well as Psalm 3 and 11. And here are other verses throughout the Bible:
When We’re Afraid
- Isaiah 41:10
- Psalm 34:4
- Philippians 4:6
- Psalm 56:3-4
- Exodus 14:14
When We’re Lonely
- Joshua 1:5
- Matthew 28:20
- Romans 8:35-39
- Deuteronomy 31:8
- Psalm 145:18
When We Need Hope
- Romans 15:13
- Isaiah 40:31
- Jeremiah 17:7
- Hebrews 11:1
- Luke 1:37
