Rockfest Day 9 - The Cavalry is Coming

The other evening I was out with a friend of mine having a very pleasant time. We were sitting outside at a little bistro during what was one of the few wonderful Autumn days in Houston. Our pleasant time was interrupted when we heard the distinct sound of a rock being thrown against a car window.

Immediately the entire group of patio patrons stood, looked over the hedge toward the direction of the noise and from the safety of the patio began to yell at the would-be thieves. Just then two waiters came running out of the restaurant and started off down the street. By the time they got to the scene of the crime the perpetrators had driven off. Luckily, without any loot or finishing what they had started – although the front windshield was now a mess.

What impressed me about the action by the waiters was that they darted off without knowing anything about what they were getting into. They both had total disregard for the possibilities for danger. They did not know if the car-jackers had weapons, how many there may be or even whose car it was – it was on a public street, not in the parking lot. None of that seemed to matter, there was trouble and they were going to stop it.

There is an expression that people use when help is on the way “the cavalry is coming.” I like that expression. When it is used you just know everything is going to be alright. That’s what I thought when I saw those waiters run off, hang on, the cavalry is coming!

Cavalries have been used for protection and combat for centuries. A cavalry is defined primarily as a force that fights from horseback. Cavalries have always been the superior fighting force of any army. The position of fighting from horseback has many advantages; it helps multiply even the smallest fighting unit, it allows armies to outflank their enemy, it makes them faster and more mobile, they can surprise, avoid and outmaneuver, or retreat quickly. Fighting on horseback is also said to have a psychological advantage over a man fighting on foot. Bigger, stronger, faster – the cavalry is who I want in my corner whenever I get into trouble.

Today, army cavalries are largely ceremonial. Fighting on an actual horseback doesn’t have the advantage it once did when armies are up against a tank or IED. We don’t find ourselves in too much hand to hand combat anymore and that is where a cavalry’s true advantage comes in.

While armies don’t fight hand to hand much anymore I do. I seem to find myself in some sort of hand to hand combat almost daily. Yesterday I was in a big hand to hand battle with frustration. After a long day I got totally lost driving through an unfamiliar city. Even my GPS system told me it didn’t have enough data to figure out where I was and “re-calculate” my route. When you get so lost, your GPS is lost – you’re lost. Very frustrating and really easy to lose my cool and temper. I could have used a cavalryman to rescue me – literally and figuratively.

If I rode with a cavalryman everyday then I would be fighting my daily hand to hand combat from a position of greater strength. I would be taller than my enemy. I would be faster, more easily able to maneuver and outflank, surprise and overpower. And I would have a psychological advantage over my enemy as well. I would feel so safe and secure.

With a cavalryman at my side everyday my battles would be won before they ever began.

I was talking to God about this, as I was trying to find my way out of the piney woods town I was lost in, and asked Him if He might know of a good cavalryman for me. He said He did. He said I did too. He is the Cavalryman who already rescued me when He died for me on Mount Calvary.

Turns out the cavalry isn’t coming, it’s already here. I’ve just been spelling it wrong.

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