The Warrior is a Child
The enemy of our souls is real. As the Scriptures read, "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a lion looking for someone to devour" (1Pe 2:5). Thanks be to God that we have a victor: Jesus Christ! He defeated the enemy on the cross at calvary; and now we, who are His, have protection and, in His Name, have been given authority over the enemy.
In this post, I want to share with you two prayerful visions. The first was experienced by a friend of mine the day I tore my left Achilles tendon (Saturday morning, 8 Sep 18); the second, I experienced personally just a last week (Wednesday morning, 5 Dec 18).
Prayerful Vision One (as it was told to me)
Dave...as your were sitting there, waiting to see the doctor at urgent care, I was overtaken by this intense feeling of anger and could see myself reaching up into your leg, grabbing your tendon, and ripping it in two.
(Note: The anger my friend felt was not her own, and she did not cause my tendon to rupture. I believe the anger she felt was the anger the enemy feels toward me. God saw fit to allow my friend "to feel" what he (the enemy) was feeling. God saw fit, too, to let my friend "see" what the enemy did to me that day. Yes, my tendon ruptured during an athletic event, but it was a targeted attack of the enemy. As strange as it might seem, I am comforted over the enemy's anger toward me. The enemy hates God, humanity, and true and genuine life. The fact that he hates me so intensely tells me how prized I am of God and that I'm on the right life-path. Again, knowing these things brings great comfort to my soul.
Prayerful Vision Two (as I experienced it)
Early Wednesday morning (5 Dec 18), feeling such deep anguish in my prayers, I found myself weeping, almost uncontrollably.
[Commentary: For those who don't know this, for the last three months, I've been engaged in the most intense spiritual battle I've ever had to fight.]
So...there I am, as a four-year old child, weeping and feeling alone and lost. In my vision, I'm in a desolate valley. The terrain is sandy and sparse (like in a Star Wars movie), the sky above is overcast, and it's early in the morning. On every side, I'm surrounded by the enemy phantoms of Satan's kingdom; and God is not in my sights.
Until...
I spot him down on one knee with His Arms open wide, beckoning me to Him. Since I'm a four-year old little boy (and only as tall as a four-year-old little boy), I can see Him between the legs of my enemies. Immediately, I run toward Him and thrust myself into His loving arms.
"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy...make it better..." I cry (over and over).
"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy....make it better..."
"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy...make it better..."
In my vision, my Daddy God pulls me in close and just envelops me in His strong Arms for about a minute or so.
Then, He lifts me up onto His Shoulders and stands to His Feet. From this vantage point, I can now see out over my enemies (see Ps 27:1-6). And I can see them, all of them...probably fifty or sixty...arrayed against me, a four-year old little boy.
[Commentary: If such a thing makes you angry, that's good. It should. 50 to 60 blood-thirsty creatures arrayed against one little four-year-old boy is angering. This is the enemy of souls we as human beings face.]
[Commentary: The Scriptures read, "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives me" (Ga 2:20). I share this because of what happened next in my vision.]
As I'm sitting on my Father's shoulders, and as He has His Hands around my ankles, I see and feel "Christ in me" stand to His Feet on the same shoulders I'm sitting on. With great balance, He (Jesus in me), rapidly pulls an arrow from the quiver over His Shoulder, and slings it with His bow into one of the enemy entities coming against me. As the arrow pierces the creature, it screams and collapses to the ground. And then another arrow goes out. Followed by another...and then another...and then another. With each kill, the Father blows fiercely on the fallen entities before us, blowing them with great gusts into the outer perimeters of our location. This goes on for a couple of minutes or so, happening over and over again, as the Son makes the kill, the Father holds me safe and blows His mighty Breath, and the Spirit wipes the face of the earth clean of the deathly ugliness that's been coming after me for so long. It's truly an amazing thing to witness and be apart of. All three Persons of the Godhead (Father, Son, and Spirit) were present and working powerfully (and lovingly) on my behalf. The gratefulness I feel is...unparalleled. I can hardly write of it, let along speak of it.
[Commentary: I'm sitting here in Whole Foods trying not to disturb the people around me as they wonder why some old man is siting there weeping over his computer.]
Several hours later, while I'm in the doctor's office at the Wound Center in Raleigh, the vision continues: With the enemy hoard in the valley wiped out, My Daddy looks up at me (I'm still on His shoulders) and says, "It's time to hike it out." I see the Smile on His Face, so I smile back and nod my head. And so, the four of us together (God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit, and I) begin the long trek out of the valley of darkness, a valley I've been imprisoned in for nearly three months, and head for the high places, where nothing will be able to touch me (see Ps 27:1-6).
[Commentary: The last three months of my life have been the most difficult I've ever had to live through. Though I never want to go through anything like this again, I'm so very grateful for the changes God has wrought within my soul through it all. Those around me might not notice, but I'm not the same person I was three months ago; and I'm so very grateful to God.]
God's peace to all of you...
IKIGAI Weekly Blog Schedule (per The Training Trinity):
Mondays: Meditative Prayer
Wednesdays: Holistic Discipline
Fridays: Martial Arts Practice
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