Advent–Peace–Day 8

Sunday, December 7, 1941 was to be just another day for the soldiers of the Pacific Fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor. 

Some were on leave. Some were heading to church. Some were at their posts.

No one expected what was about to happen.

At 7:40 am, aircraft flew over the North Shore of Oahu. Dive bombers were armed with 550-pound bombs. Mitsubishi “Zero” fighters were looking to shoot up planes they encountered in the sky or saw on the ground. Nakajima bombers, armed with torpedoes and armor-piercing bombs, were headed for any battleships or carriers positioned in Pearl Harbor.

What was going to be an ordinary day turned into the devastating event that ushered the United States into World War II.

By 7:55, a message was sent out in plain English to any ship or naval installation that could hear it: AIR RAID PEARL HARBOR THIS IS NOT DRILL

By the end of the attack, 2403 service members had been killed, and 1178 more were wounded. Six U.S. ships had been sunk or destroyed, and hundreds of aircraft were destroyed or reduced in capacity.

Today, oil still leaks from the U.S.S. Arizona. A memorial stands above the ship’s wreckage, which is visible below the surface of the harbor’s clear, aquamarine waters. Visitors say it is a solemn, yet peaceful site, respected as the final resting place for 1102 sailors and marines who were trapped below deck.

War was the inevitable outcome.

From the beginning of the 20th century until the present day, there have been 267 skirmishes, conflicts, coups, uprisings, troubles, crises, or, the most common word used to describe such things, where humanity justifies killing humanity:

War. The opposite of peace.

It’s not children playing good guys vs. the bad guys in the yard. It’s not a video game. It’s not a drill.

Most of us have never had to go to the kind of war where you have to endure the trenches, hide in caves, or take cover behind a building. We don’t know what it’s like to train in the event we are captured by the enemy. 

But we do know what it is to live in a world that is anything but peaceful. Some of us, in the desperate search for peace, numb ourselves with substances or distract ourselves with various diversions, some destructive. 

Anything but facing that with which we must do battle. 

Sometimes, to find peace, we have to go to war. Those soldiers at Pearl Harbor didn’t have a choice but to engage with the enemy and do their best to hold their own. When the United States entered World War II, our citizens mobilized and did what was necessary to fight, and eventually, win the war. 

Scripture is clear that Jesus came to bring peace, but that peace is between humanity and God. Praise God that Jesus Christ has won the war for our souls, but those who reject God and the salvation offered through Jesus will find themselves continually at war with God.

The second week of Advent is traditionally centered on peace, and Scripture tells the way to find that long-lasting peace that our souls so desire:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Matthew 28:30 NIV

Wave your white flag and put down your weapons, for this life is not a drill.

It’s a war.

And the only way to win is to surrender to the King.

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Reflection and Prayer: What is one area of your life right now in which you are desperately seeking peace? Consider your worries and fears, and remember to surrender them to the Lord. Ask Him for the necessary faith to turn it all over to Him.