Recently, I reflected on a disappointing scenario that penetrated my life last year. It hit like a missile, and I found myself deeply sad. Being familiar with the need to make hard decisions for good reasons for long periods of time, I guess I forgot about a real phenomenon. After decades of managing such situations, you end up with a “pile-up.” This pile-up loomed in my thoughts and lingered in my heart. Clearly, I needed a re-boot. Somehow the pile-up had turned into a mountain.
What Do You Do With a Pile-Up?
I’ve always found God to be faithful through thick and thin. Yet, some life scenarios just don’t shift – even after prayer, patience, and best management efforts. As I stared at my pile-up, I felt discouraged. 
Confronted with a monumental pile-up, what does a seasoned believer do?
Then, I remembered the military. What do they do with a serious pile-up? They identify specific objectives. This might include re-establishing a beach head, strongly affirming territory, sending in stealth operatives, carrying out secret missions, etc. Then they devise a plan to go after those objectives. Often, they name their thrust – like “Operation Desert Storm.” Perhaps you remember that one. Every focus, resource, and endeavor goes into the operation . . . or it’s abandoned.
Operation Close
So – facing my pile-up, that’s what I decided to do: get an operation going! After consideration and prayer, I decided my focus would be – renewed closeness to God. Keep in mind, I’ve been a seasoned believer for a long time . . . and I felt I am close to God. But this was something special. I longed for more of God, even in my deep discouragement. “He is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Ps. 73:26) That became my absolute focus. 
And so began “Operation Close.” I laid some strategies and committed to carry them out. Re-establishing a beach head and re-claiming territory was about to begin. I felt like a stealth operative on a secret mission with God.
For the next month, I parked in a psalm or two – and lingered there. Just a psalm or two for all those days. I dropped my regular quiet time schedule to focus on Operation Close, and daily journaled what those familiar Scriptures meant in my realities. I decided to be desperate for one thing: God. Every focus, resource, and endeavor went into that operation . . . or it was abandoned.
Results
Do you know what I found out? That kind of operation changes you. The faith that under-girds such a thrust is rewarded. Heb. 11:6 says, “Without faith it’s impossible to please God . . . He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” God says – “The only thing that matters is (your) faith (in Me) expressing itself through (your) love (for Me).” (Gal.5:6) Wow.
As I looked back and reviewed my journal notes for the month of Operation Close, I had interesting observations. My beach head was re-established, territory solidified, and freshness watered my aching soul. As I abandoned myself completely to trust God, my actions as a stealth operative resulted in a successful secret mission in the undercover of my daily quiet time with God.
My Journal Prayer For Operation Close
The final day’s entry in my journal for Operation Close is a prayer. It is evidence this focus did something inside me. I want to be vulnerable and share that prayer with you.
“As Operation Close draws to a close today, I feel a bit sad. This month has pulled me through. Jesus, You met me at my low point to care for my heart wounds. You put my hand back into the hand of hope. My focus was not on Your power. It was on Your love – the needle point of Your power.
Your love pierces through any fabric of life. It drives me through toughest terrain and pulls me through where there’s no opening. Because I believe Your intentions toward me, You penetrate brick and mortar on my behalf. In barren places, You share Your strong, tender, heart with me, and refresh my aching soul. Where others have slandered and ostracized, You have taken me up into Your own great, warm Person.
You are my Safe Place, my Fortress, my Garden, my Companion, and my dearest Friend. You are my Counselor who guides into tomorrow. The Mighty God who lays Your life down in front to provide a solid road. My dear Everlasting Father who created my life with purpose. My Prince of Peace who brings rest and respite. You are Extraordinary Strategist who addresses pile-ups and trains me as a stealth operative in secret missions behind enemy lines.
Thank You, O God of the Heavens, for caring so deeply for me. I put my full hope in You and stay in the force field of Your love. Thank You for Operation Close!”
Conclusion of Operation Close and My Pile-Up
And so ended my military operation. I instinctively knew I was facing off with the enemy in Jesus’ name. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph. 6:12)
And I was still standing. “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” (Is. 7:9)
Questions to Help Your Pile-Up
What kind of pile-up do you have? Do you need to get an operation going? Have you spent time with your General to soak up His strategies, to train as His operative, to partner in His secret mission for your soul’s well-being?
God loves you so much! He wants you to be free and to live in His peace and joy. So, get an operation going. Get alone with God in a serious way to be renewed in Christ!
