Bowl in a China Shop: Explosion jars spirituality, strengthens faith

Three Marines are recovering well after suffering minor injuries in a grenade explosion Thursday while conducting routine military maneuvers in Kuwait.

My brother, David, was one of the three Marines. He and two others were wrapping up testing when one of them stepped on a live grenade that for some reason had not detonated.

David had taken off his armored vest just before the explosion and had put it in his backpack. When another Marine stepped on the grenade, David had his back to it. He was only a foot from the grenade when it exploded.

"My Company First Sergeant came to see me while I was in the hospital," David wrote in an e-mail to me. "He just looked at me and said 'Hobbs, you are so lucky that you had your shield in the back of your flak jacket.' He said he dug two pieces of shrapnel the size of quarters out of the plate in my flak. That would have hurt me pretty bad, if not killed me."

The Marine who stepped on the grenade wasn't hurt badly either. The blast blew the front part of his boot off but only fractured his big toe.

You might say, "Wow, those guys were lucky." But luck had nothing to do with it. They were saved by the protective hand of God. How do I know? Because logically all of them should be dead considering the severity of the explosion and how close they were to it. God saved their lives because of His love for them and so they could share their story with others.

"OK, fine, but what does this have to do with me?" you might ask.

This has everything to do with you.

God is not selective, and He doesn't play favorites. He loves all of us, including you. He wants so badly to be a part of our lives and for us to love Him that He came to Earth and died for all of our sins.

You might have heard all this before. Maybe you don't think it has any relevance to your life. But I'm telling you from personal experience, God changes lives. God is the reason I am a writer. God is the reason I'm sharing this message with Ball State. God is the reason my brother and two other Marines are alive today.

God can change your life as well. All you have to do is ask. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done wrong - He wants to save you.

Romans 10:9 says "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." That's basically it, guys. From that point God will change your life and make you a new person. Yes, there will still be hardships in your life, but nothing worth fighting for is easy, and believe me, this is worth it.

Take what you want out of this message. The choice is up to you. I can't force you to believe and neither can anyone else. It's a decision you have to make and you alone.

But at least now you can't say that no one ever told you.