Get Up!

By Captain John Arroyo, Jr.

Are you waiting on a word from God?

Living in uncertain times can increase your faith because you really do not have the ability to take control of the situation, but can, Only Believe everything will get better.

My life in the military was so structured and planned out that I did not think much about my future because I believed nothing could happen to me. I was a career soldier and, at the time, had fifteen years under my belt, and was sprinting to the finish line of retirement.  However, in an instant, my life and family stability were shaken, and all certainty was lost.

My wife had just lost her little brother in a hunting accident, and both her parents passed away nine days apart. Approximately six months after losing her parents, I was shot in what is known as the second mass shooting on the Fort Hood military base in Texas.

At times, I am sure many of you have felt like I did then. Everything in your world is instantly shaken, and like the effects of an earthquake – everything appears to be out of order. Possibly, you have thought, “I am in Bible College, how can this happen to me?”  Perhaps you are a teacher or an administrator, and you’re trying to make sense out of a senseless world – but can’t. I understand what you are going through. Friends, the entire planet has been shaken to the core.  As I lay in the hospital, unsure whether I would live or die, not only was I fighting for my life, I was fighting to put it back together. My future was monumentally uncertain.

In Daniel 3:19, we read about the three men who were sentenced to death by being forced into a blazing furnace. However, God did not stop the men from being forced into the fire; He stepped into the inferno with them. God did not stop me from being shot, but He audibly spoke to me and stepped into my tragedy. If you study the scripture mentioned above, you will understand that other men had died in the fire. However, the three men condemned to a fiery death placed their trust in the Lord, and their outcome was vastly different than others who had preceded them.

After I was shot, I did not have a sudden increase or supernatural impartation in my faith. What I did have was a word from the Lord. When I was bleeding on the ground, Jesus audibly spoke to me and said, “Get Up.”

Friends, I have a word from the Lord for you, Get Up!  Shake off the after-effects of uncertainty and begin to live your life fully trusting in God.

Remember, Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Get Up!

To learn more about Captain John Arroyo, Jr. and his experiences, visit his website here: https://www.attackedathome.com/