There are several aspects of my faith which I have only had to believe at a theoretical level throughout my life. Those beliefs have been certain and sincere! – but untested by real-world experience.

That’s why “practical faith” matters to me so much, and why I try to teach practical faith to others – so they can know how to apply the theoretical aspects of faith to their actual everyday lives.

This deployment has presented numerous opportunities for me to see old aspects of my faith in the new light of reality. And while that has been frightening on the front-end, it has proven reassuring and faith-building for me afterwards.

One such example is the phrase “no weapon formed against you shall prosper.” I’ve heard the phrase throughout my life, and knew it was a Biblical reference… But it wasn’t until recently that I sought out the verse for myself to learn of the reference and its practical significance.

The reference is to Isaiah 54:17, which says, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every voice that comes against you in accusation, you shall refute. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication comes from Me,” declares the Lord.

Before this deployment, I’d never been made aware of an actual real-world weapon that had been formed against me, nor the literal means by which it did not prosper.

Knowing this phrase came from God’s Word, I’ve believed it up to now in a general/philosophical sense. And that belief has been sincere and confident – albeit untested. This deployment, though, has driven me to believe it literally, because I have now seen numerous real-life examples of its fulfillment, thank God!

So many so, that I have begun to record the confirmed examples in my journal as I am made aware of them.

One of the daily disciplines the Lord gave me to do during this year of deployment is journaling. I’ve never maintained a daily journaling discipline before, and I have to say, it has been a very helpful experience for me thus far.

One of the things I have begun recording is real-world instances, confirmed by observable evidence, of weapons that we know have been formed against us, and the ways in which they have failed to prosper over us.

I don’t have nearly the visibility into military intelligence that many of my colleagues have, but even at my level of relative ignorance, I keep learning of confirmed instances – many just within the last month alone! – where an adversarial weapon, which was poised and ready for our harm, was foiled by one means or another before it could fulfill its purpose!

It’s frightening to know the enemy has formed a weapon against you, and now has you in its crosshairs. But it’s faith-building (and praise-inducing!) when you learn of that weapon’s demise or failure. It gives greater confidence to trust in the Word of God when you see its statements fulfilled not only at a theoretical level, but also at a practical one.