Unfinished Business with God

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Unfinished Business with God

June 9, 2024

It was just before Christmas, 1944. Bombs were falling in Europe and snow was falling in Idaho. Staff Sergeant Walter Carney was stationed at the Army Air Core Base in Boise. His commanding officer reminded him that he could easily ride out the war shooting pool—a long way removed from the killing fields of Europe. Still, Carney was persistent in his pursuit to serve his country and see the action on the other side of the Atlantic. So he begged the C.O. regularly until he finally received his overseas orders. It seemed like a good idea…at the time.

Just a few months later, Carney questioned the wisdom of that decision as he jumped into the smoke-filled sky from the belly of a B17. He had watched the shrapnel from the German artillery shred the airplane’s number one engine, then the number two. From the ball turret on the underside of the plane, or the “fishbowl” as they called it, he watched number three burst into flames. In his headset, he heard an anxious voice ordering him to bail out. Less than a minute later he was floating to the earth…and to the battle raging far below.

The Nazi infantryman pointing a rifle at him didn’t look a day over 14. Carney tugged his Colt 45 from its holster. Then suddenly (noticing that the soldier had several comrades) Carney dropped the gun on the ground and raised his hands in the air. For a split second he thought about his parents and wondered how they would learn of his capture.

For the next 11 days he “enjoyed” the hospitality of the Nazi army. In German custody, Carney (who was not really all that religious) found time to pray. In his prayers he tried to bargain with God. “God, please get me out of this place and I promise that I’ll….” (The list of promises was long.) Even though he was sincere, Carney found that the promises were easier to make than to keep. Just a few hours after his liberation, he had already broken most of them.

The memories of war stayed with him for several years. Sometimes in his sleep he would hear the shrapnel hit the engines. At other times, a thunderstorm in broad daylight would revive the sounds and scents of war. And those promises he made on his knees—they were never far away. They were an intricate part of the nightmares and daydreams of a long ago war. Those broken promises were a nagging reminder of his brush with death—and his unfinished business with God.

On April 18, 1957, Walter Carney and his wife walked into a crowded little church. He had become somewhat of a churchgoing man since the day he married. (He figured that he at least owed that to God.) Even though a dozen years had passed since that day back in WW II, he hadn’t forgotten how miserably he had failed God. God had kept His end of the bargain—Carney hadn’t.

The preacher was a fiery fellow who used the Bible like he actually believed what it said. Although Carney was initially turned off by the speaker’s style, his message soon began to resonate in Carney’s heart. Peace with God—those were the words of hope that caught his ear. The speaker declared that this great gift of God was offered to all men, regardless of their failures and past, through God’s Son—the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Could it be true,” he wondered? “Could God forgive me?” His mind flashed back to Germany. He saw himself kneeling…pouring out empty promises to God. He heard the voice of the U.S. soldier that called out his name and set him free. Like a scene from an old movie, he watched himself stumble out into the town square as the bell tower pealed out the noon chimes. In seconds, his mind replayed the years of his life since that glorious day: years of sin and selfishness…and more broken promises to God. How could God forgive that?

“Grace” was the answer that flowed from the speaker’s lips. Unaware of the struggle going on in his hearer’s heart, the preacher’s words were like rainfall to a dried up soul. His sermon summarized God’s gracious offer of peace to mankind as revealed in the Holy Bible. He identified Jesus Christ as the Son of God, sent to earth by the Heavenly Father to die for the sins of the world. Jesus healed the sick, overruled the laws of nature, and even raised the dead. Multitudes followed Him. Historians wrote of Him. According to His own prediction (and the ancient prophecies of the Old Testament), Jesus died on a cross and arose from the dead three days later. He commanded His disciples to announce that He is the Son of God and the only Savior of mankind. He offers God’s peace, forgiveness and eternal life to those that repent of their sins and follow Him. The Bible word for this unmerited favor—offered freely by God to His undeserving creatures—is grace.

Carney certainly hoped the Bible’s promises were applicable to him. After all, he knew in his heart that he was incapable of pleasing God. He had tried to keep his promises and utterly failed. If there was such a thing as this “grace,” he needed it. It was his only hope. He could find peace with God if Jesus’ words and claims were true.

After the service, he approached the speaker, asking how he could receive this gift of grace from God. Moments later, kneeling at the church’s altar, Carney offered another prayer to God. This one was quite different from the one he had uttered years before. Acutely aware of his own sinfulness, he did not try to bargain or barter with God. In humble, honest words, he opened his heart to the God of heaven, pleading for His forgiveness on the grounds of Jesus’ sacrifice.

Somehow, right then and there, a miracle happened. Across the galaxies of space, God spoke a word to his heart: forgiven. The broken promises of the past were forgotten. The unfinished business was settled. Walter Carney was finally free!

Over the days and years, his wife noticed a profound change in her husband’s life. Those changes were real and lasting. I know—I grew up in his home as the youngest of his children. My Dad became a minister a few years before my birth. My siblings and I witnessed the life-changing power of Jesus Christ in the life of our father. As a result, we have all followed willingly in his footsteps, following Dad as he follows Jesus Christ. We cherish such a legacy. God’s gift of grace is available for you too…if you’ll only believe. Do you have unfinished business with God?

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

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