Life in the Trenches: Finding True Love

NOTE: Dan Trafford is a great friend, beloved brother, and godly young man. A senior at East Stroudsburg University, he is an influential leader for Christ on campus. His reflection, Life in the Trenches, is deep and stirring. It comes from the heart of a man who is painfully aware of the struggle in following hard after Christ, yet eager to grab hold of all that the gospel offers. It is a privilege that he is guest-posting on my blog. Enjoy!

Where there is love, there is life.

Mahatma Ghandi

Our hearts long for it. Often.

We write poems about it. We dream about it. We spend countless hours thinking about it, budgeting for it, and fantasizing over it.

For most of us, getting it is our deepest desire.

True love.

But for many - whether single, dating, or married - love often feels more like living in a trench than gaining a long-awaited prize. We often find desire turning into disappointment, and fantasies becoming follies.

Is there actually a love that will fill us the way we always dreamed it would? Join me as we look to find true love.

In World War II, "trench warfare" broke out on the Western front when the German army refused to lose any more ground. They decided to "dig in" and prevent the Allied forces from advancing. Both sides came to a stalemate on the front lines and spent long days & nights trying to avoid enemy bullets and artillery fire.

Life in the trenches was "hell": wearisome, grueling, and hopeless.

Many singles find themselves in trench warfare. Life often seems like a battlefield. They crawl into their beds at night ... alone. They walk through their days ... discouraged. Theoretically, singles are fine with being single - they are eager to trust God, and willing to rest in His timing. But ... life in the trenches is hard! The loneliness is real, the warfare intense. Single soften struggle with the lie - "Once I find the 'right' one, life will be good."

Life as a single can often seem like trench warfare - wearisome, grueling, and hopeless.

Many who are dating also find themselves in trench warfare. They are "committed" ... but not really. They are "united", but without the joy of "marital union." They lie in bed at night, wondering why they still feel alone. They feed on the dream that once they are married, life will be good.

Life while dating can often seem like trench warfare - wearisome, grueling, and hopeless.

Many who are married find themselves in trench warfare. The dream is achieved, the ring is sized and fitted, but ... "this is it?" Many lie in bed at night, married, yet alone. Marriage isn't all that they thought it would be - physical intimacy isn't the answer to loneliness, and servant-like love requires hard labor and selfless devotion.

Life being married can often seem like trench warfare - wearisome, grueling, and hopeless.

You're the Lord of all creation

And still you know my heart.

The Author of salvation,

You've loved us from the start.

"Waiting Here For You"

Life in the trenches can seem unbearable. Unbearable, that is, until you get a view from the high ground.

The gospel of Jesus gives us such a view.

The Scriptures remind us that true love is not essentially a fanciful dream, an unquenched long, or a bitter memory.

Rather, true love is a Person. A Person who came and met us at our worst, and loved us with His best. A Person who saw beyond our crass cravings to our deep desires, who looked beneath our selfish fears to our noble hopes. A Person who went into the trenches with us, fought the battle for us, took the bullet we deserved, and died a wearisome, grueling death in our place.

Yes, this True Love literally went to hell for His beloved, so that life in the trenches would never have the same sting again.

True love is Jesus.

So, when you feel the loneliness of the trench, when you sense the weight of the battle, remember - you already have what you deeply long for. A true love that will never fade, never abandon, never dismay.

Never will I leave you or forsake you.

Hebrews 13.5