A Helping Hand

I could never forget coming home from a night convoy. It was the crack of dawn, in a Hummer, sleep deprived, and ready to put something other than an MRE in my stomach. We were going through the city of Mosul in Northern Iraq, near the Turkish border. There was a little girl who couldn’t have been over 9 years old. In the girls arms she carried what looked to be her little brother who was only a couple years old. She was running beside our convoy waving and blowing kisses at us saying “thank you, thank you, thank you”.

It always seems to be at those moments when you have been there a while and you ask that question “what are we really doing here”? I was doing just that and the Lord answered with this little girl and her little brother. If for nothing else in the world He showed me that they were one of the reasons we were over there.

That little girl reminded me a little of us sometimes. There are times in our life (especially at the time of coming to that relationship with His son Jesus Christ), when we are at the end of what matters. He sees us waving to Him for help and reaches down to pick us up and help us in our time of need, just as we were helping those children.

“Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” How exciting is that and I know that we can get weak quite often when doing the job that Uncle Sam asks of us. I am asking you today are you weak and in need of some pick up. Not physically I mean spiritually? Maybe you are so mentally at wits end you don’t know which end is up. I can tell you that God knows He knows better than anyone because he stretched His arms out for you on the cross.

Maybe you know Jesus as your personal Savior but you just need Him to strengthen you. He can do that. If you need prayer today please contact me through my email address and I will pray for you or if you know someone else that might need lifting up let me know. In fact in the next two verses of that same passage Matthew 11:29-30 Jesus wants to take our burdens so that we don’t have to carry them.

About Eric Haynes

  My name is Eric Haynes and I am an Iraqi War veteran. I served almost 12 years in the US ARMY before I was medically discharged due to bad knees in 2007. My wife Carole and I have been married for almost 18 years and have two wonderful girls Brenna 16 years, and Belle 8 years old. I have received my Bachelors of Science in Religion in 2010 from Liberty University and now am currently working on my Masters of Divinity from Liberty Theological Baptist Seminary. It is my goal and the longing of my heart to continue to serve as a Chaplain for Veteran Services once I complete this degree. I served a year in Iraq from 2005-2006 for Operation Iraqi Enduring Freedom, where my platoon was attached to the 101^st airborne infantry. 

         I look forward in this segment to be able to share a little bit of sunlight from some of my experiences while I was in and relate it to God’s Word to give you something to chew on. A little devotional of sorts with other digging in God’s Word if you choose to do so on your own. I am calling this section of the website “Military Manna”. Manna was the way God feed His people in the Bible at times it was a type of bread dropped from heaven by doves.  One way that God feeds us spiritually today is through the Bible, His Holy Word. 

First let me share my testimony.  I met the “ROCK” in 1975, no not Dwayne Johnson THE ROCK, former wrestler, and actor. I came to know the Lord at a very young age of 5 years old. It was the summer of 1975 at a Good News camp in Jackson, PA. It was during counseling time when the girl who would later become my sister-in-law was asking me questions and telling me about what Heaven would be like. She then asked me if I wanted to go there and when I said yes she asked if I wanted to accept Jesus into my heart. I accepted, and that day on a rock in the middle of a cow pasture I came to know “THE ROCK” Jesus Christ personally. I went home and told my mom and dad. My mom was a loving Christian mother and was so excited to hear. Since then I started getting really involved in plays and musicals at our church. Not long after my mother got me the Keys for Kids devotional from Children’s Bible Hour.  She would read it to me every night and once, I was able to read I could do it on my own. 

I would like to add that if you have any questions or would like to let me know how you like this section or have ideas to improve it you can contact me by my email address it is militarymanna@hotmail.com.