CHAPTER 25
“And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none”
(Ezekiel 22:30).
Sarah was still shaking when she pulled into her driveway. She’d had a good cry—all the way home. I sure didn’t mean to make him mad. I thought he’d be excited to know what wonderful plans God has for his life.
When Sarah got inside, she called Barbara, who came right over. She listened for a long time and then prayed over Sarah’s wounds. “Sarah, can I give you some advice?”
“Sure.”
“The next time you hear from the Lord and it involves someone else, ask the Lord what to do. Are you supposed to pray and tell them at a later time? Are you just supposed to pray about it and not share it at all? But if you feel like you’re supposed to share what the Lord has shown you, do it in a gentle way. Don’t try to be their personal Holy Spirit. It’s your job to pray and His job to intervene. If you are supposed to share, you could say something like: ‘I think I heard this from the Lord, but I’d encourage you to pray about it and see if you get confirmation.’ If you say that you heard it from God, what can they say? It puts them on the spot.”
“Yes, I see that’s a better way; I guess I was pretty abrupt,” said Sarah as her face flushed. “I made that same mistake with my Sunday school class when I first got saved. They didn’t respond well, either. Now I see what I did that angered Pastor Paul. Maybe I should call him and apologize.”
“Why don’t you hold off on that, at least for a while?” said Barbara with a grin.
After Barbara left, the spirit of Despair settled back over Sarah. Lord, I could use a boost. I really feel bad now. She got her humility book and read the underlined passage about Jesus, “…I am among you as one who serves.”1
She felt an urge to sort through the boxes that Barbara had brought up from the basement for her. That doesn’t sound like much of a pick-me-up. That sounds like a lot of work, but I guess I don’t have anything better to do. I’ll meditate on this quote while I work. The first two boxes were uneventful; the contents went straight to the black trash bags. The fourth box was marked “Misc.” When she opened it, she let out a shout. It was more of George’s love letters to her. I thought these had been lost years ago.
She’d read all the old letters in one setting. The letters were always an exercise in happiness and grief. Tears always flowed, but in the end she felt better. She pulled the top letter off the stack and gingerly opened it. It was from George when he was at college. It started with the same familiar salutation that they both had used. She closed her eyes and pictured George speaking those words, “My Beloved.” She still couldn’t believe he was gone.
Halfway down the page she read the following:
One of the fellows down the hall invited me to visit his church last night. I don’t even know why I agreed to go. There was a revival going on. Lots of singing and preaching. I was thinking what a waste of my time it was when I could have been home studying. Then all of a sudden I was crying. No matter how hard I tried I could not stop. Suddenly I remembered having that same feeling once before, when I was very young. Grandma had taken me to church and the same thing had happened. I was crying and before I knew what I was doing, I went to the altar and prayed. When I got up, I felt different; grandma told me I was “born again.” I had forgotten about the whole experience until I had that compelling feeling again tonight. I went forward again and prayed like I did as a child and gave my life to Jesus. My emotions were so intense and I am thoroughly confused by the whole experience. Maybe someone will come alongside me and help me understand what I did.
She had no memory of this letter. It wouldn’t have made sense to me then anyway. Why didn’t he follow through with his commitment? How could he give his life to Jesus and then never mention Him again? Sarah felt like the life was being squeezed out of her. She was stuck between agony and ecstasy and didn’t know which was the truth. She cried out, “Help me Jesus. Please show me if George is with You.” Her hands were trembling as adrenalin rushed through her system. She dropped the letter like it was poisoned.
“Sarah,” whispered Joel gently, “George had two very real encounters with the Lord, but he was like the hard path in the parable of the sower.2 The seed fell into his heart, but he did not understand it. The enemy came and snatched it away before it took root. However, he did have a praying grandmother. Even though she was with the Lord long before George died, the Lord honored her unceasing prayers.”
“The last three days of his life, when he was on the morphine drip and in a coma, the Lord appeared to him because of those prayers. The Lord rebuked the deception that had kept George from seeing Jesus’ love for Him and gave him one final choice. Of course no one who sees Jesus in His beauty would ever say no. George made it to Heaven at the last hour. He had nothing to give the Lord and had earned no eternal rewards. His gratitude is so great that he has not left the throne room to explore the vast beauty and mysteries of Heaven since he arrived. He praises God day and night with the cherubim, elders, and millions of others.
“And,” said Joel with a huge smile, “He also intercedes for you.”
A huge weight rolled off of her though she continued to sob out her thanksgiving to the Lord for what seemed like hours. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. Thank you for rescuing him from Hell at the last minute. I’ll get to see him again. He’s in eternity with You! Thank you for snatching him at the end of his life.
She regretted that she hadn’t been in a place to encourage him to follow through on his commitment. But God was merciful, hallelujah! Thank You, Jesus, for getting us both.
She had run the full spectrum of emotions today. I forgot to eat dinner. I’m starving. She prayed for a missionary in the Philippines when she got the sandwich ingredients out of her devotional refrigerator and prayed for a couple ministering in Romania when she put the roast beef back.
Leaving the kitchen to enter the living room, she passed through a door. OOPS, I’m not praying in the Spirit. It wasn’t happening immediately, but she was cultivating the habit of continual prayer.
“Great job Sarah,” said Malta. “Remember Ezekiel 22:30 where the Lord looked for someone to stand in the gap in prayer so He would not have to bring judgment, but He found no one? Remember George’s grandmother? She was an intercessor, and intercession is spiritual warfare. Stand in the gap praying, and stay in the gap praying until the Lord repairs the breach in the wall. God has bestowed on humans an incredible dignity by allowing them to partner with Him. You be that one who is always praying, Sarah. Never let it be said again as long as you dwell on this earth that the Lord looked and found no one. Your prayers make a difference. You won’t know how much until you get to Heaven, but, by faith, diligently stand in the gap each day. Many people’s lives depend on it.”
Sarah felt a mixture of emotions—the privilege of a destiny call on her life, but also the seeds of doubt that her prayers could really matter that much. However, the example of George’s grandmother made Sarah recommit herself to prayer.
“Sarah, when you were born on the earth, you were born into a spiritual battle that you didn’t ask to be a part of; no one does. The enemy is just there like a roaring lion waiting to devour every human being.3 When you were born again, it upped the ante in a way that you can’t understand. You went from being a member of the devil’s kingdom and being absolutely no threat to him to being his archenemy and a huge threat to his kingdom—”
“Actually,” interrupted Joel, “all believers are a huge threat, but they don’t believe it because they look at their limitations instead of looking at God’s limitless power that can work through them—”
“So now you’re a Christian with all Jesus’ power at your control and the devil is enraged. You’re a terrible threat, and he declared a full-scale war on you and your life. You didn’t ask to be caught up in this spiritual battle, but you only have two opt
ions—fight back or take a break and be devoured. Backing off or letting your guard down is suicide in your battle against the raging powers of darkness that seek to destroy you and your spiritual inheritance. The devil doesn’t back off just because you become weary; that’s his opportunity, and he’ll take it every time. There is no neutral zone where you can time out and take a break.”
Lord, help me to understand the seriousness of being an intercessor. Please, please give me the grace to carry it out.
That night Sarah had a dream. She was living in an ancient city with a massive wall surrounding it. The wall was in terrible disrepair. Crumbled mortar and fallen stones had left huge gaps. In spite of the damage, life was progressing as normal among the city’s inhabitants.
One day Sarah heard a sound in the distance. It was almost unperceivable so she ignored it. It became louder, but still she and everyone else disregarded it. Finally, it grew so deafening that she climbed onto the broken wall. Her heart almost failed her when she saw an evil horde of huge soldiers in full armor. There are hundreds of thousands of them! An evil swarm, as far as she could see from the east to the west and from the south.
Each of them must be nine feet tall! They’re giants.
They marched almost mechanically, in perfect unison, on their way to fulfill their goal of total annihilation of her city. As the first companies neared the wall, there were still thousands of soldiers marching over the far horizon.
They were clad in silver armor from head to toe, and carried awesome and terrifying weapons—jewel-encrusted shields and massive swords. Other companies carried spears or bows and arrows to accomplish their deadly work. The leaders of each troop rode on horseback and carried colorful war banners that whipped in the wind. This threatening army seemed undefeatable. I have no weapons. We have no weapons. We’re doomed. Sarah turned to run, but realized that with the breaches in the walls they all would soon be dead.
From her place on the wall, she yelled to be heard over the tremendous din. “There’s an army marching! They’re going to slaughter us. They’re almost here. Everyone needs to stand in the gap. NOW!”
Then Pastor Paul, the highly educated and well respected religious leader of this town spoke to the crowd, “Don’t listen to her. What does she know? Who would attack us? We’re right in the middle of God’s will,” His soothing voice calmed the agitated people. Kathy was there standing by his side.
“This is no time for a debate,” screamed Sarah. “Listen. You can hear them! They’re almost here! We can’t let them breach the walls. Everyone climb up; take your place.”
Though most ignored her, in spite of the deafening sound of the marching foot soldiers, about 50 people discerned the impending calamity—commoners, merchants, teenagers, even mothers with their children, some of the elderly, and Kathy. Each one purposefully climbed the city wall and took his or her place standing in its gaps.
It’s hopeless, thought Sarah as she scanned the horizon; we can never stand against their destructive power. But she screamed out, nevertheless, trying to be heard over the chaos, “PRAY! EVERYBODY, PRAY!”
The front line of the attacking army was at the wall. The archers were taking aim, their bows drawn back at the intercessors.
The Holy Spirit reminded Sarah of Ephesians 6:12: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” As the 50 began praying, Sarah cried out, “I REBUKE THE POWERS OF EVIL IN JESUS’ NAME!” She simultaneously flung her arms across her face and turned sideways for protection. She fully expected to be impaled by a shower of arrows but nothing happened. Then she heard the sharp clanging of steel. Slowly, she turned to see the first third of the army laying dead on the ground. The remaining two thirds kept marching resolutely toward the wall, stepping on and over their dead cohorts.
Stunned, but encouraged, the intercessors all shouted as one voice, “I rebuke the powers of evil in Jesus’ name!” To their amazement, puffs of black sulfuric smoke wafted from the armor of the middle third and the empty armor toppled! Spears and shields clattered. The hillside was littered with empty armor and useless weapons.
Suddenly, the verse made sense to Sarah. “It’s a demonic army. It’s just little demons wearing big armor,” shouted Sarah. “The enemy really is defeated through Christ’s death on the cross. They fight us through deceit and bluff. If we are in bondage to them, it is because we don’t know that we are in Christ and share His victory over Satan. They only have the power over us that we give them. The demons must flee at our command! When Jesus retrieved the keys to death and Hell, we were participants in that victory. Because Satan is beneath Jesus’ feet, he is also beneath ours.”4
The intercessors erupted into praise.
“RETREAT! RETREAT!” screeched the head spirits. The last third of the demons retreated into the second heavens, not even waiting for the next verbal deathblow. Their armor and weapons dropped, clanging impotently to the ground. They were well aware that on the back of Satan’s neck is a nail-scarred footprint.
All Sarah could see was the glint of the sun shining off of hundreds of thousands of suits of armor lying in disarray. Just a few minutes ago she had been terrified—sure that they would be slaughtered, totally annihilated. But at the Word of God, there was no violence, no disaster, no destruction to the city. God had delivered them.
“Submit to God and resist the enemy. Then he will flee!”5 shouted one of the other intercessors. They all worshiped and celebrated Jesus’ victory over the powers of darkness and rejoiced that the same authority had been imparted to them—Satan’s dominion ended at Calvary.
As they left their places on the wall and climbed down, the city’s residents met them. “Where are all the soldiers you said you saw? We told you there was no reason for concern.”
CHAPTER 26
“Contrary to popular and false belief, it’s not ‘those who help themselves’ whom God helps; it’s those who humble themselves. This is the promise of humility. God is personally and providenally supportive of the humble. And the grace He extends to the humble is indescribably rich.”
C.J. Mahaney1
“You will choose between two teachers in life: Wisdom or consequences.”
Wayne Cordeiro2
Pastor Paul had been shaken to his core by the word Sarah gave him. How could she know he’d had an abusive father? He hadn’t even told Kathy. His father had died when he was a freshman in college, and he hadn’t met Kathy until the following year. He’d been careful to always talk about his dad’s good side and then change the subject. He sure wasn’t going to tell Kathy what Sarah had said.
Deception immediately appeared and perched on his shoulder. “Leave the church? Why should you leave the church? The Lord is obviously blessing everything. Every time you turn around, new members are joining.” It was like a dream come true for any pastor, but especially one so fresh out of seminary and still wet behind the ears.
“Paul, use your discernment,” pleaded Saldu. At the word discernment, Deception let out a squeal, as if impaled.
“How,” continued Saldu, “could Sarah know about your dad being abusive? She could only know that if the Lord told her. And if she heard it from the Lord, then that gives credibility to the other part of the message about taking the jail’s director up on his job offer. You need to set aside your own earthly gratification, which, trust me on this, in eternity will only shame you, and love the Lord enough to be obedient to His plans for you. You felt the Lord drawing you to the land. That’s good, but you didn’t pray to find out why. When the opportunity to thwart the jail came, you inserted your own desires and called it God’s plan. You misinterpreted His will. People conceive of plans and label them as being directly from God all the time. Then when their plan fails, they’re mad at God and at everyone else for letting them down.”
“But,” screeched Deception, “that part-time job wou
ld eventually lead to you leaving your church. You don’t want that. Most pastors never experience the type of success you’re seeing now, and this is your first church. You’d be a fool to leave.”
Saldu stood with his arms folded across his chest and a somber look on his radiant face. He was steadfast in obedience to the Lord and knew that this was also what Paul needed. His voice was stern. He pointed his unseen sword at Paul’s heart. “Paul, you need to follow the Lord’s plan for your life, not your plan. This is not a game. There are eternal consequences at stake. There’s a way that seems right to a man, but the end is death.3 Do you understand? Disobedience leads to death.”
Paul wrestled with the situation, flipping back and forth between Sarah hearing from the Lord or possibly knowing the information some other way. He finally dismissed it. The prospect that it was true was entirely too scary to entertain. What if the Lord really spoke to Sarah and she wasn’t nuts? Then he’d be the one on the outside looking in. No, it absolutely couldn’t be. He didn’t know where Sarah got her information; maybe it was just a good guess. But he wasn’t going to become a chaplain at that jail, especially if it meant ministering with Sarah. Deception rubbed up against Paul’s face like an affectionate cat then turned and sunk his jagged talons into Paul’s skull.
Saldu sighed, sheathed his sword, and interceded for Paul.
Barbara gave Sarah a book on healing. Sarah devoured it. She’d heard people at prayer meetings praying for God to heal, but she never knew the outcomes. Now she delved into the topic. Hope rose in her spirit, and she posted verses around the house. “He personally carried away my sins in His own body on the cross, so I can be dead to sin and live for what is right. I have been healed by His wounds,”4 she would say over and over. She had already figured out that when she got healed she would donate her cane and walker to the Bradbury Manor. Every night before she went to bed she expected to wake up in the morning with full mobility, and every morning so far, she was disappointed.
Angels of Humility: A Novel Page 16
