{"id":4683,"date":"2024-09-19T14:36:17","date_gmt":"2024-09-19T09:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/spicedmulling\/?p=4683"},"modified":"2024-09-19T15:14:28","modified_gmt":"2024-09-19T09:44:28","slug":"an-important-battle-strategy-smokescreens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/spicedmulling\/2024\/09\/an-important-battle-strategy-smokescreens\/","title":{"rendered":"An Important Battle Strategy – Smokescreens!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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Smokescreen Camouflage | Google Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

What are Smokescreens?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Smoke screens<\/a> are usually used by infantry to conceal their movement in areas of enemy fire. They can also be used by armored fighting vehicles, such as tanks, to conceal a withdrawal. They have regularly been used since earliest times to disorient or drive off attackers.<\/p>\n

Britannica defines it as something that you do or say to hide something or to take attention away from something. Cambridge Dictionary marks it as something that hides the truth about a person\u2019s actions or intentions. Vocabulary.com<\/a> says it is an action intended to conceal or confuse or obscure.\u00a0Synonyms for smokescreen includes camouflage, mask, red herring, pretense, fa\u00e7ade, cloak, cover-up, deception, diversion, obfuscation, etc.<\/p>\n

A smoke screen is usually a cloud of smoke used to hide the location or movement of military units, such as tanks, ships, aircraft, or infantry. Smoke, created using various chemicals, has four battlefield applications that support combat operations: obscuring, screening, protecting, and marking.<\/p>\n

Specifically smokescreens can be used to: Obscure optical targeting, confuse AI algorithms, blind radar seekers, disguise and camouflage soldiers.<\/p>\n

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Swamped by fog | Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What Smokescreens\u00a0 do?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

In warfare and battles, smokescreens are used to confuse and confound the enemy, distracting them away from their main target. This causes the enemy to go off course, on a tangent, and thus dissuading them from attaining their objective.<\/p>\n

Smokescreens van also sidetrack and lead away from destination, or even not allow to reach it. There\u00a0 is a famous story of the swimmer who gave up just before reaching her ddestination due to sea fog.<\/p>\n

In 1952, Florence Chadwick<\/a> decided to attempt the 26-mile swim between the California coastline and Catalina Island. Accompanied by a team who kept an eye out for sharks, prepared to assist in the event of injury, fatigue or unexpected cramps, she swam roughly 15 hours before encountering thick fog. It clouded her vision, diminished her confidence, cussed her\u00a0 to relay to her mother and others in the boats at the time that she didn\u2019t think she could complete the swim. After another hour of struggle in the icy cold waters, she decided to call it quit, only to discover if she\u2019d just continued on for another mile she would have reached her destination!<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what is the purpose of smokescreens, make one give up or lose way or not reach target area.<\/p>\n

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Christians together | Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What has Smokescreens to do with Christians?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Spiritually<\/a>, a smokescreen is\u00a0a distraction from the real truth and from the real heart issues that they want to hide.<\/p>\n

The pharisees used trick questions<\/a>, not real ones to learn, repent, and change, but to catch Jesus make a mistake. They were using their seemingly interested enquiry into the things of God as a smokescreen to hide their real motive, trip Jesus up and arrest Him!<\/p>\n

All Christians must know and understand that the day we signed up to follow Christ, and chose to be His disciples, we become the target of the enemy of souls, Satan and his hosts. His favorite weapons of warfare against us, and lead us astray are confusion, distraction, deviation, discouragement, and depression. He is a master of masquerade, and his aim is always to turn us away from God or even from His plan for our lives. If he can turn you aside from your focus on Him, the devil has achieved his purpose.<\/p>\n

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Jesus tempted | Google Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What happened in the case of Christ?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Two times we see in the Bible how the devil tried to distract Jesus from His main purpose and course of action. In the desert after Jesus completes His forty days fast, the devil brings on the smokescreen of using God\u2019s power for personal purposes. Jesus correctly identifies his tactics and doesn\u2019t give in to his suggestions, but sticks to the ways of God.<\/p>\n

There is another telling incident<\/a> in the life of Jesus, where just before He leaves to be crucified, He shares what is ahead with His disciples. Peter comes to Him, and tries to dissuade Him from following through with His plan of action. Jesus correctly discerns that the enemy is trying to distract Him from the will of His Father, and rebukes Satan. Peter unwittingly becomes the devil\u2019s advocate.,\u00a0 and is told by Jesus that he didn\u2019t comprehend the ways of God.<\/p>\n

In both these incidents, Jesus was tempted to take the easy way out, and thus not accomplish the purpose of God in His birth, the rescue of mankind through His sacrifice. The devil tried to hoodwink him, throwing a smokescreen so that He would be distracted from the destination!<\/p>\n

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Poem | Pinterest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What is the Countermeasure for a Smokescreen?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Have you ever noticed that when life seems to go well, with all being well in your personal life, your family is doing great, you are serving the Lord, your finances are healthy, and then suddenly you seem to be hit by a curve ball? Something goes wrong, maybe a mishap at home, a sickness, an unforeseen expense, an accusation or opposition at work or in church, etc.<\/p>\n

You are left stunned and sometimes clueless as to what is happening, or why is it even so when you are following God fully and wholeheartedly, and seeking to serve Him! To add to the ignominy, well-meaning family, friends, both in and outside the church, seem to judge you, seek to advise you, and maybe even blame you for your own mishap!<\/p>\n

So did Job\u2019s friends when he sat in ashes and sackcloth, searching for God in the midst of his trials, not understanding the why of it all. He didn\u2019t know that he was part of a cosmic struggle that specifically centered on him, and that God was literally on His side, and betting on his integrity! The Bible<\/a> is clear that despite his struggles and laments, Job did not sin against God, neither did he give following Him as his wife counselled him to!<\/p>\n

Arthur Hugh Clough\u2019s poem Say Not The Struggle Not Availeth <\/em>has always been my personal go to when I become tired and weary of struggles, especially the second and third verses (see pic above). It well illustrates how a smokescreen can make you give up right when your companions are chasing the victory, and but for your desertion would have won the fight!<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/www.freepik.com\/free-photo\/colorful-foliage-autumn-park-concept-colorful-seasonal-nature-background-autumn-time_23458028.htm\"
Mist covered | Freepik<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How do you handle a Smokescreen?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Smokescreens do tend to confuse us, and make us stumble around in the darkness or dimness they tend to create. The way to handle a smokescreen is to<\/p>\n