The enemy fears us most when we do not feel the Lord’s presence…when we don’t want to do what He is asking of us…yet we choose to obey. The enemy trembles. His response is to attack us even more. I felt such an attack last month in Uganda. Our ministry was door to door evangelism with the goal of planting a church at the end of the month. So we’re beginning the month and I feel awful for the first time on the Race. I don’t want to get out of bed. All I want is rest. I recognize this as an attack from the enemy…an unseen spiritual attack. I get out of bed and partner up with one of my teammates, Lacey, and a local pastor who is translating for us and go visit our next door neighbor…a man named Moses.
Moses is a young man about 28 and is muslim. He invites us into his home and as we’re talking and sharing passages from the Bible I notice how closely Moses is paying attention and hanging on every word. I could tell just how eager he was for TRUTH…for the Lord. He asked many questions…concerning Love…God…Creation….we answered them all and the answers Lacey and I were giving surprised me so much…the Holy Spirit was really speaking through us a lot that morning. When Moses questions were all answered I asked if he was ready to accept Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior…he looked at me in the eyes and said “YES!” in the most sincere and desperate way. Lacey then led him in a prayer and before leaving the three of us prayed over Moses. As we prayed over him he began to weep. I felt the Lord’s presence so mightily in that moment. I was able to witness the most amazing miracle a person can see.
Lacey and I returned the following Friday to visit with Moses again. As soon as we sat on the couch he began telling us about a dream he had of me and Lacey. Lacey was wearing a white dress and I was carrying a white sword…he was asking questions about love…specifically God’s Love versus man’s love. I praised God in that moment for how he works. I woke up Friday morning and the Lord began speaking to me about this very topic….I pulled out a notebook and wrote down everything the Lord was speaking to me about his Love. I let out a little laugh and simply repeated what I wrote down not thirty minutes before back to Moses. How cool is God? He gave Moses the question in a dream and me the answer as soon as I woke up.
I was able to give Moses his first Bible on my last night in Uganda. This man is 28 and has never owned his own Bible. That was a huge slap in my face. How privileged I am to live in a country where Bibles are so easy to come by. (Did you know most churches around the world only have one Bible?) His gracious and grateful attitude humbled me even more that night. He thanked me for showing him Love over the past few weeks. All I knew to do was pray over him and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to him loudly, teach him, and give him wisdom.
I learned so much through this encounter. The enemy is assaulting God’s creation at all times. He is on a war path. I learned that we must recognize the enemy’s attacks and fight back. My weapon of choice…LOVE. It drives out fear…God’s perfect LOVE cast out fear….it casts out the enemy. I learned about obedience….obeying even when I don’t want to. I’m reminded of something Paul said…that he does the things that he doesn’t want to do and doesn’t do the things that he wants to do.
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12
*Thank you to all of my supporters for keeping up with me over the past 8 months. I have no idea when time started moving at such a rapid pace…yet here I am with less than three month on the World Race. I ask for prayers from you concerning these last remaining days…that I would remain present…that I would be tuned into the Lord’s voice and be obedient. I am asking for more brokenness and refinement of my character. Thank you so much for your support and prayers. I love you all very much.
