Dedication

So, as all of you know by now, I'm in ROTC. I was working out with the Ranger Challenge group this morning. We were practicing what was known as a "trauma lane", or at the very least, we practiced carrying someone in a gurney. I can't remember the exact acronym for it, but that's besides the point(gah! I've probably learned around 500 acronyms in the past month for ROTC alone.)! When we ran back to the ROTC hall, we found that the sprinklers had come on and were now watering the slightly sloping hill in front of the building. Our sergeant told us we would be doing pull-ups on the bars right in front of the ROTC hall, which, conveniently, one of the sprinkler heads went right along as it sprayed the yard. So, we did our sets of pull-ups and then, before he let us go, we had to do sit-ups on the incline of the hill with the sprinklers spraying all over us. After that was done, the sergeant got us back into formation and we all stood at ease while he talked to us about the upcoming FTX and other various news we needed.
All of a sudden, one of the sprinkler heads near the ends of the ranks we were standing turned onto us, soaking me and the two or three people in front of and next to me. Now, here's the kicker, we all stood there, waiting for the sprinkler to move around us. Some of us put our hands down to block the stream, but we didn't move out of the way, at least, not to the point where we moved out of our position in the formation. Heck, the first time that water smacked into me(I ended up being the first one hit with it), I simply waited for it to go by, taking a nice line of water right across my chest.
Some of the cadre and other cadet officers were standing off to the side, and right before we got dismissed, one of them called out to me. "Why aren't you guys moving out of the way of the water?" To which most of us had no answer. Then, the cadre that was there turned to the cadet and said simply," they've got good dedication."
I was a bit surprised by this. I hadn't thought of it as dedication. I hadn't really thought of much of anything at all. All that I knew was that while I was in formation, I needed to do what I was told and listen to my sergeant and what he had to say. The water was an annoyance, but I ignored it to listen to him.
This is the same way we need to be when we talk with God. We have to be dedicated to him without realizing it. We have to be able to stand there and focus on Him and what he has to say and do what he tells us to do even if we have storms in our lives or if we're getting pelted with water or any other sort of attack. We have to be able to stand strong and take whatever's thrown at us, look it in the face, and let it pass by us. It's only when we have that kind of dedication to God that we can truly quiet ourselves and listen for his still-small voice and be able to pick it out over our own thoughts and the noise around us.