Pondering our Everyday Trench Warfare

As Cathy Maziarz homeschools a lesson on WWI, she literally and figuratively finds herself in a trench. 

With each plunge of my shovel into the dense Virginia clay, I am hoping it is my last. I am at eye level with the lawn; my body standing five feet below the surface. I toss the shovel's heavy contents out of the ditch. As I look behind, I see twenty feet of trench dug. It was a strange coincidence that earlier that morning I had taught a homeschool lesson on WWI, and here I was in a trench.

As I continued to dig, I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the 25,000 miles of trenches the soldiers had dug. For them, the digging was the easy part. The trench would become their battleground — and for four million souls, their grave. I lowered my head, pausing with the weight of gratitude.  

The blessing of a kind neighbor with a shared sorrow

After taking a deep breath, stealing my resolve to continue, I tried to honor those fallen with each plunge of my shovel. It was so minuscule in the scheme of things, but it became a motivator to keep me going. I looked up to see my neighbor, Joe, moving toward me at an impressive speed for a man in his 70s. As we continued to shovel, working our way towards each other, we talked. I had moved into the neighborhood five months ago, a neighborhood where you instantly became family and if there was a problem, the family was there to help.

Joe and another neighbor had offered to fix our sewer problem, and so here they were in the trenches with my husband and me, digging to put a new pipe in for the new drain field. It was not quiet on the Western Front with Joe and me talking, and within the span of an afternoon, I had dug up a treasure. Joe was a man of faith, kindness, and strength … a new blessing in my life. As we dug deeper into our lives, I found out that Joe had been in another type of trench as well — the same trench I had recently fallen into.    

Falling into the trench of despair

A week prior, it had been my 49th birthday, and again I had fallen into the trench of despair. I had fallen deeper this time around. Self-pity and the sadness of infertility had again knocked me back in. For weeks now, my barren body had laid muddy and bruised, fighting in this trench of darkness. In the past, I had never really given up hope. I had always clung on to at least a strand that God would one day bless me with a child.

This birthday, however, had cut that last strand. I was in a trench … and it was warfare.    

My enemy was the greatest of all enemies, and once again he had planned a great offensive attack. Satan had an arsenal of weapons and proven tactics. He would fire a barrage of distrust, causing me to distrust God and His purpose for me, his artillery of distraction had me focus on what I didn’t have instead of what I did, and his tanks of doubt would roll in crushing any hope I had.   

As St Paul wrote,

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. (Ephesians 6:12) 

The battle was real … and Satan wanted me to give up.  

Sharing faith, hope, and strength

As Joe and I dug, Joe shared about his and his wife’s infertility. Not only did he give me camaraderie, but he shared his faith. He had made it out of the trench … there was hope.  

I tossed another shovel of earth out of the trench. I thought of those soldiers. I thought of Joe. I will continue to fight. I will remember that God is my General in this warfare. He sees behind enemy lines and knows the enemy. He has given us a wartime manual, a battle plan that we must read: 

And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and supplication, pray at every opportunity in the Spirit. (Ephesians 6:17–18) 

He has given us armor.  

Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11) 

He will prepare us: 

Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war. (Psalm 144:1) 

Whatever trenches we have fallen into — depression, anxiety, illness or death — we must continue to fight. One day, the trench warfare will be over ... and we will be victorious!   

The Devil who had led them astray was thrown into the pool of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Revelation 20:10) 

For it is the LORD, your God, who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies and give you victory. (Deuteronomy 20:4)

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Copyright 2024 Cathy Maziarz
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