{"id":5815,"date":"2024-11-11T11:34:20","date_gmt":"2024-11-11T16:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/?p=5815"},"modified":"2024-11-11T11:34:20","modified_gmt":"2024-11-11T16:34:20","slug":"the-power-of-scripture-helps-veterans-overcome-internal-battles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/11\/the-power-of-scripture-helps-veterans-overcome-internal-battles.html","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Scripture Helps Veterans Overcome Internal Battles"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On this Veterans Day, I reflect on the deep struggles many of my fellow veterans face. For many of us, the battle doesn\u2019t end when the boots come off, and for some, the greatest fight is within.<\/p>\n

Anger \u2014 something we\u2019ve all experienced \u2014 can feel like a tidal wave, especially for those of us dealing with the unseen wounds of Post Traumatic Stress (PTS). But here\u2019s the thing: anger, if left unchecked, becomes more than just an emotion. It becomes a weight that can cripple our spirit and our purpose.<\/p>\n

In the military, anger was often the fuel we needed to prepare for the fight to come. It gave us the edge to push through pain, loss, and fear. But once we come home, that same fire, if not managed, can burn us from the inside out.<\/p>\n

The Apostle Paul recognized that our struggles often start within. In Ephesians 3:16, he says, “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit.\u201d Each of us needs inner strength to stand against the enemy\u2019s attempts to overwhelm us. We must remember the One within us is greater! We don\u2019t have to face these inner battles alone, because God has boundless resources to help us overcome.<\/p>\n

With this prayer, however, Paul also offers a caution. He urges, “In your anger, do not sin (Ephesians 4:26).\u201d Notice he doesn\u2019t say \u201cdon\u2019t get angry.\u201d Anger is a human emotion, but it\u2019s how we respond that matters. The problem comes when anger controls us, and for many veterans, that\u2019s the challenge.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen it firsthand in my own life and in the lives of those I\u2019ve had the honor to serve alongside. There are moments where the anger from past experiences seems too overwhelming, like a storm that won’t let up. However, I have also witnessed the calming power of faith. According to James 1:19, we should be “slow to anger,” and it’s during these times that we begin to recover. Healing is believing that God’s plan is greater than our suffering, but it doesn’t entail forgetting what we’ve experienced.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve spent years wrestling with my frustrations \u2014 both from combat and life in general. But here\u2019s what I\u2019ve learned: anger can either drive you away from your purpose or refine you for it. When Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, \u201cCome to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,\u201d He\u2019s not offering an escape from reality. He\u2019s offering a path to peace, right in the middle of our battles. That\u2019s what many veterans need to hear \u2014 that we don\u2019t have to carry the burden alone. We don\u2019t have to let anger be the chain that keeps us from living a life of purpose.<\/p>\n

For the veteran or the civilian who is struggling with invisible wounds, Romans 12:2 offers a profound message of the hope and transformation we can find with the Lord. The verse encourages us to \u201cbe transformed by the renewing of your mind\u201d \u2014 another important reminder that the true battle is often fought within our hearts and minds. This transformation involves shifting focus from past traumas to healing and growth, embracing new perspectives and finding strength in the journey to recovery. By renewing our minds, we can find peace and resilience, and rebuild our lives with a sense of purpose and hope.<\/p>\n

Veterans must understand that anger doesn\u2019t have to be a disability \u2014 it can be a signpost directing us toward God\u2019s grace and healing. This emotion, while challenging, can be a catalyst for seeking help and finding a path to recovery. I\u2019ve seen countless veterans reclaim their purpose, not because their anger vanished, but because they learned to give it to God and let Him lead.<\/p>\n

Each year on Veteran\u2019s Day, we pause to express our heartfelt gratitude to the retired servicemen and women who have dedicated their lives to protecting our freedoms. As we honor their bravery and sacrifice, it\u2019s important to also acknowledge the invisible scars and internal battles they may continue to face long after their service has ended. Recognizing these challenges is a crucial part of our appreciation, reminding us to offer support and understanding to those who have given so much.<\/p>\n

Dan Horgan<\/em><\/strong> is a 20-year retired Air Force Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) | Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) which includes a combat deployment to Afghanistan. He later served as a police detective with the Baltimore Police Department. Dan has held leadership roles in marketing at Black Rifle Coffee Company and today serves as the marketing director at SOF Missions, supporting veterans battling PTSD.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On this Veterans Day, I reflect on the deep struggles many of my fellow veterans face. For many of us, the battle doesn\u2019t end when the boots come off, and for some, the greatest fight is within. Anger \u2014 something we\u2019ve all experienced \u2014 can feel like a tidal wave, especially for those of us…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":630,"featured_media":5821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Power of Scripture Helps Veterans Overcome Internal Battles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/11\/the-power-of-scripture-helps-veterans-overcome-internal-battles.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Power of Scripture Helps Veterans Overcome Internal Battles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On this Veterans Day, I reflect on the deep struggles many of my fellow veterans face. For many of us, the battle doesn\u2019t end when the boots come off, and for some, the greatest fight is within. Anger \u2014 something we\u2019ve all experienced \u2014 can feel like a tidal wave, especially for those of us…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/11\/the-power-of-scripture-helps-veterans-overcome-internal-battles.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Daily Cup of Wellness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-11T16:34:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/410\/2024\/11\/Bible.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Power of Scripture Helps Veterans Overcome Internal Battles","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/11\/the-power-of-scripture-helps-veterans-overcome-internal-battles.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Power of Scripture Helps Veterans Overcome Internal Battles","og_description":"On this Veterans Day, I reflect on the deep struggles many of my fellow veterans face. For many of us, the battle doesn\u2019t end when the boots come off, and for some, the greatest fight is within. Anger \u2014 something we\u2019ve all experienced \u2014 can feel like a tidal wave, especially for those of us…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/11\/the-power-of-scripture-helps-veterans-overcome-internal-battles.html","og_site_name":"Daily Cup of Wellness","article_published_time":"2024-11-11T16:34:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/410\/2024\/11\/Bible.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Guest Contributor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/11\/the-power-of-scripture-helps-veterans-overcome-internal-battles.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/11\/the-power-of-scripture-helps-veterans-overcome-internal-battles.html","name":"The Power of Scripture Helps Veterans Overcome Internal Battles","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/11\/the-power-of-scripture-helps-veterans-overcome-internal-battles.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/11\/the-power-of-scripture-helps-veterans-overcome-internal-battles.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/410\/2024\/11\/Bible.png","datePublished":"2024-11-11T16:34:20+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-11T16:34:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/#\/schema\/person\/916540b64e34a34da3d6802d6afd98cb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/11\/the-power-of-scripture-helps-veterans-overcome-internal-battles.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/11\/the-power-of-scripture-helps-veterans-overcome-internal-battles.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/11\/the-power-of-scripture-helps-veterans-overcome-internal-battles.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/410\/2024\/11\/Bible.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/410\/2024\/11\/Bible.png","width":800,"height":600,"caption":"Shutterstock.com"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/2024\/11\/the-power-of-scripture-helps-veterans-overcome-internal-battles.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Power of Scripture Helps Veterans Overcome Internal Battles"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/","name":"Daily Cup of Wellness","description":"Healthy Living, Mental Health, Nutrition, Fitness, and More","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/#\/schema\/person\/916540b64e34a34da3d6802d6afd98cb","name":"Guest Contributor","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/author\/guest"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/630"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5815"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5827,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5815\/revisions\/5827"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dailycupofwellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}