Interview with Jac - a warrior in our midst

Interview with: Jac Benson

Date: 09/26/20

Tell me a little bit about yourself- I’m a young aspiring writer who desires to honor the Lord and bring hope and joy to my readers. As a child I grew up with an abusive father who through the grace of God is no longer heavily involved in my life. Although I have walked in many dark places my heavenly father never abandoned me, teaching me that through Christ I have and will continue to fight my way to victory.

When did you realize that you had a “warrior mindset”?- Well, to be honest I’m not exactly sure. I’ve always had the warrior blood flowing through me with an overwhelming need to see justice served. I suppose it was in my early childhood years, as I discovered that life is not a highway, it's a battlefield and the only way to come out in one piece is to pick up our God given swords and fight for the lives around us as well as our own.

How has it affected your life?- It has made me realize that the life of a christain is not all sugar and spice. We (with our Heavenly Father’s guidance) often have to make hard choices, decisions others will not always agree with. There will be times when even other believers will harass you for standing up for the truth. It also made me come to terms with the fact that nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes , we all must come before the cross seeking forgiveness. Some days you will lose the battles with your mind. It may at times feel like there is nothing for you in this life save for your own failure, but in the end it will be alright. Christ has already won the war and He will sustain you to run this race with endurance fighting every step of the way.

How did you meet Jesus?- Through my mom who raised me to be a good and faithful servant. I know, it's not very dramatic, but sometimes the ways of God are quiet and mysterious.

How has he affected your life?- In every way. I quite literally would not be here if it wasn't for The Lord’s intervention in my life. He saved me from eternal misery in hell forever, He chose me to be His child whom He has redeemed in freedom. I own Christ my everything and in turn I’ll give Him my all.

Have you ever wondered how these two things coexisted?- Yes, for a long time I thought that to be a christain was to be weak. There could be no such thing as a strong christain who was able to take a life intentionally. I believed christains could do it if they were being attacked in a rush of adrenaline moment, but never plan out the death of someone. That was murder after all and christains were commanded not to kill. In His own time the Lord did change my heart on this matter and though it was a slow and painful process I can now see that being a christain is not weak, but instead takes a lot of courage. It's hard to have to stand up to those in power, but if they are doing wrong they must be stopped. To save lives sometimes we have to take a life. We should never want to do that, but sometimes to protect, we must attack. It may hurt us to do so, but sometimes to bring peace we must start a war.

How did you mesh them?- Meshing them into one was rather hard for me, but I discovered a method that works well for me. Whenever I wonder if taking a particular life was right or wrong I ask myself three questions.

1. Was this person taking lives? If said person was actively trying to take lives then the protection of others must come first. They have made their discussion and death may be a consequence of that choice. What choice did all those innocent people have?

2. Was this person harming others? This basically goes along with the first one. If someone is a victim we must always take their side on all levels.

3. Is this person going to take/harm lives if I let him live? If there is someone who is actively pursuing the destruction of others it is my belief they should be taken down. With a bullet if there are no other safe options. I know others who would disagree and that's ok, but at the end of the day I think anyone who stands to harm other human beings must be removed from places of power (however that looks) so we can stand up for the innocent.

Did you find something that helped?-Something that really helped open my eyes on the more difficult “gray” areas of christainty was to read the bible cover to cover multiple times. By studying the champions of faith, many of my questions were answered without me even having to think about them anymore. Though there were some I had to wrestle out between myself and God.

What are some methods you developed to “Calm yourself” when you couldn't do anything to alter your situation?- Pray, pray, pray, and pray. I know that's what everyone says, but it really is true. So many times we try to pick up our burden from the foot of the cross and carry on us once more, but the Lord took that upon Himself and why should we try to take it back? Through prayer we can surrender our battles to Him. The outcome is in His hands already, why should we fret over it?

If you could say one thing to your younger self what would it be? -You are gonna make it. There will be days where death sounds sweet and there are no tears left to cry, but it will be ok in the end. We make it home.