I sit in my study on January 26, 1991, contemplating the headlines of the past nine days:

“War in Gulf.”

“The War Widens.”

“U.S. Pounds Iraq, Hunts Missiles.”

“U.S. Losses Rise in Hunt for Iraqi Missiles.”

“Iraq Torches Kuwaiti Oil.”

“The Pounding Goes On.”

A multitude of thoughts course through my mind in connection with this tragic situation:

I pray for our troops in the Gulf area, that the Lord will protect them and—more importantly—that the Holy Spirit will bring many of them to a saving knowledge of Christ.

I pray especially for the born-again troops and chaplains over there, that they may be mightily used of the Lord to bring the gospel of Christ to their comrades.

I pray for Presidents Bush and Hussein and the leaders of the other involved nations, that our nations might once again, by the mercies of God, be able to “lead a quiet and peaceable life” (1 Tim. 2:2).

I think about the prophecies in the Old Testament about the great conflict in the Middle East during the tribulation period that will set the stage for the return of the Son of Man with His saints to set up a kingdom of peace upon this earth.

I think about Isaiah’s prophecies concerning the Assyrian, and Daniel’s concerning the King of the North and wonder if Mr. Hussein could in fact be that prophetic personage.

I think about how imminent the rapture—the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed saints—must be in light of the biblical prophecies concerning the end times and all that is going on today in the Middle East and the world in general.

I think about how blessed I and my fellow Christians are, for in the midst of dwindling prospects for world peace (until the millennial reign of Christ), how wonderful it is to have peace with God and the assurance of eternal life as a result of being justified by faith (Rom. 5:1).

And then my thoughts turn from the big war—the Persian Gulf conflict—to the many smaller wars that are being waged daily throughout the world as well as right here in our own country:

The wars being waged by outlaws against the citizens of our country, resulting in 21,000 murders, 94,000 rapes, 1.5 million other violent crimes (armed robbery, etc.), and 12.6 million property crimes (burglary, auto theft, etc.) in 1989 alone (compared to 58,000 killed and 153,000 wounded in the entire 8.5 years of the Vietnam War).

The wars being waged on our city streets and highways by drunk drivers against the rest of the citizens, accounting for an estimated 50% of the total 43,000 deaths due to motor vehicle accidents in 1989.

The morality (or rather, immorality) wars being waged by citizens to broaden the legalization of abortion, pornography, and gay rights, to withdraw accreditation of private schools that dare teach a creationist viewpoint, etc.

And from these smaller, less publicized—but very real and devastating—wars, my thoughts turn to the even more private and even less publicized wars that go on daily behind closed doors of individual households:

Brothers and sisters battling over what they inherit from their parents.

Teenagers battling their parents for permission to use the car, to listen to rock music, or to participate in various prohibited activities.

Parents battling their children to get them to put down the Nintendo and do their schoolwork and household chores.

Husbands and wives striving with each other for the upper hand or the last word, pitting their egos against each other, continually bickering or else not speaking to each other at all (a silent battle that can lead to greater casualties than a noisy one).

With regard to the little household wars, my thoughts and concerns turn particularly to the verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of children and spouses.

Are these millions of little wars that go on daily—largely unnoticed by the public at large—any less tragic than one big war that directly affects millions of troops and citizens?

A sister in Christ recently wrote me concerning the relationship with her unsaved and abusive husband: “My stomach is wrenched from emotional pain, and fear and loneliness are constant.” This too is tragic!

Another sister shared with me how her husband had been physically battering her for 20 years, beginning even before the marriage ceremony. This too is tragic!

A young brother complained to me that his father—a born again Christian and leader in the local assembly—frequently belittled his children as well as his wife, often in public. This too is tragic!

Earlier this month I was trying to help a youthful employee of a local business who had lost his car keys and had searched inside and outside the building for two hours, but in vain. He told me that his father had another set of keys at home, but that he would rather commit suicide than admit to his short-tempered, abusive father that he had lost the keys. This too is tragic!

In 1985 this country was rocked by the report of a nationwide survey that an estimated 22 percent of adult Americans had been victims of sexual abuse as children—that’s about 38 million people. The public is just beginning to be made aware of the equally large problem of physical battering of spouses. It has been estimated that in the U.S. three to four million women annually are beaten—severely enough to receive police and medical attention—by their husbands, ex-husbands, or lovers, and some 3,000 die as a result. Sadly, this is not at all a phenomenon confined to non-Christians and alcoholics. A study has shown that in Christian homes, 16 percent of the women reported abuse by their husbands, and in a quarter of these, or 4 percent altogether, the abusive treatment involved physical battering.

I believe that God sometimes allows the big wars to break out in an attempt to reflect back to us the millions of smaller wars and household battles that rage on unabated and take their toll on such a tremendous number of individuals— including many Christians—around the world. I have no doubt that there is a common set of attitudes and ambitions that underlie both the big international wars and the little street and household wars. The Old Testament Scriptures tell us: “Only by pride cometh contention” (Prov. 13:10). And in the New Testament we read: “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not; ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain; ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (Jas. 4:1-3). Just as in olden days—about 3,400 years ago—when “every man did that which was right in his own eyes (Judg. 17:6), and as in every age, “we have turned every one to his own way” (Isa. 53:6), so today “doing one’s own thing” is the “in thing.”

We all hope that the big war in the Persian Gulf area will be over quickly; but even if — by the mercies of God — it is, I fear that the little wars will continue unabated. So as we pray to the Lord for the safety of our troops and for a quick end to the hostilities in the Middle East, let us at the same time pray for God’s protection on one another from the smaller wars such as those being waged by criminals and drunk drivers, and let us pray also for those involved in the still smaller, more private, household wars, especially those who are known to us.

Finally, I urge that each of us do some serious soul-searching before the Lord as to whether we personally may be the antagonist in one of the little wars. Before we start throwing darts at a Saddam Hussein dart board, let us see if there might perhaps be just a little bit of Saddam Hussein within ourselves.

FRAGMENT “The Lord He is God in heaven ABOVE” (Deut. 4:39).

“And UNDERNEATH are the everlasting arms” (Deut. 33:27).

Where is God? He is above us as Creator and Sovereign. The loftiest place is His by right. He who made all things is far above all that He made — supreme and transcendent.

Where is God? He is beneath His own. Many a weary and perplexed saint has found relief as he realized that the God of eternity was beneath him, bearing up and sustaining him. Those arms are unfailing and everlasting. From their mighty grasp no foe, whether demon or man, can wrest us.      G.M. Landis