27. How Great Victories Are Won
Sometimes the biggest source of discouragement in the Christian life is not the knowledge that we slipped and lost a battle along the way, but the sense of how slowly we seem to move and how far there is to go to where we want to be. Acknowledging this is not failing to recognize the salvation already accomplished for us in the work of Christ, but a deep desire for the resulting loving obedience that is at the core of Christian growth and transformation. Our steps in the right direction may often seem miniscule, but we can turn that fact around with the understanding that even though we may have far to go, the necessary steps we need to take are really only very small ones.
As J. R. R. Tolkien wrote, "Little by little, one travels far," and in Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis put this thought directly into the context of Christian warfare:
"Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of." The big victories in the Christian struggle, like any other area of life, are won not so much by brilliant tactical thought and strategic planning, but by patiently continuing to do the right things one small step at a time. In fact, if we extend Lewis' military metaphor a little further, military history shows us just how well the analogy applies to Christian life.
Humans are capable of travelling incredible distances if they set their minds to the goal and persist in moving forward, no matter how slowly. In 218 BC the Carthaginian general Hannibal patiently marched his army from North Africa to Italy via Spain and the Alps – a distance of almost a thousand miles. In our own era, the 193435 "Long March" of the Chinese forces covered 6,000 miles in 268 days of movement; but perhaps the best example comes from the biblical era.
The Roman army of New Testament times was the most formidable fighting machine in the world, and it was renowned for moving its troops great distances to accomplish its aims. How did it do this? Roman foot soldiers patiently kept up a steady pace and in so doing they were able to march 20 miles – or even further – in a five hour march, despite the heavy loads they often carried.
Naturally, horse mounted cavalry could travel further in a short time, but a fact that few realize is that a trained foot soldier can outmarch a horse. Although the man may be slower, by the end of the day the slow moving man can often have travelled further. Horses must be rested frequently and often die in adverse conditions, while men continue to move because of the will to persist. That is why the military equipment and supplies of the Roman army (and many others) were pulled not by horse-drawn vehicles, but by oxen and mules which were slower than horses but more persistent.
By their willingness to tirelessly put one foot in front of the other, the Roman legions gained great conquests which were often simply a result of getting to their chosen destination. That is what the apostle James meant when he wrote about the Christian life: "Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1:4). The word translated "perseverance" (hypomonē) also means "patience" or "endurance," and James knew what every warrior who sees victory also comes to know: that patient endurance is how the great victories are won.