Thursday, September 10, 2009

There's Power in the Armor

Today, I am reminded of Ephesians 6:10-13 as Pastor Mark was sharing the importance this past Sunday of putting on the whole armor of God. This scripture tells us to be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, stand. Stand therefore, having your loins gird about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

I can recall a time in my life when this verse was never more real to me. I had gotten a call from my oldest son the night before going on a family vacation to California. Doug told me of a dream he had that left his dad, three siblings and myself dead. There had been a terrible accident and we were killed instantly. Funny thing, that same night, I had the same dream. We shared our thoughts of hesitation to continue the vacation, but decided to put on our armor, pray for divine protection and to leave as planned. The next morning, I helped everyone get packed. After we loaded things into our Datsun 510, we gathered around and prayed again for safety and divine protection. As we began our journey south, peace flooded our vehicle as well as our hearts and we put the anxiousness of the dreams behind us.

The vacation was wonderful and we were bringing an abundance of memories and play toys home. My husband's parents had given the kids Odysseys that were in need of some repair but nothing beyond what we could tackle. Attached behind our 2,200 pound vehicle was a 2,500-pound trailer full to the brim with tools, garage sale items and two large Odyssey's home bound for Oregon. Before leaving my parents-in-laws' driveway, we put on our spiritual Armour said another prayer for safe traveling and divine mercy on the road ahead of us.

Most of the trip was behind us and I wondered what had been the meaning behind the dreams since it appeared there was no apparent threat to our safety on this vacation were falsely interpreted. Shortly thereafter, the kids noticed a helicopter overhead. Surprisingly, we watched in amazement as this aircraft hovered almost directly over our vehicle. It was slightly moving ahead along the winding Interstate 5 between the Siskiyou Mountains of northern California and Oregon. A car approaching rather hastily from behind immediately shown in my husband's rear view mirror and I turned to look behind us after I noticed the confusion in my husband's eyes. As I twisted my body around to scan what was happening, I quickly assessed the car racing upon us and realized this vehicle was only a few feet from our car. Suddenly, the dreams my son and I had encompassed my every thought, and all I had time to do was to gaze lovingly at my three children in the back seat. Within seconds, this vehicle on the run became invisible as it began to enter our car from the rear, passing the children, my husband and myself and then finally exiting the front of our car as it continued in our lane. What we all had noticed, was an unrestrained infant lying on a woman's lap in the front passenger seat as the car moved effortlessly through the middle of ours. Everything was moving in slow motion and we had no time to contemplate what to do or make any decisions on how to avoid this catastrophe. As we gazed in astonishment and tears came to my eyes, we watched the vehicle flee rapidly ahead of us while closing the distance between our car and theirs. In a semi-frightened yet bewildered state, we were left trying to make some sense of the event that should have claimed all of our lives, but didn't. We settled down, thanked God for hearing our prayers and for His divine protection on our lives.

So this was the disaster that Satan had planned for our family, but God had intervened and said, “No, I don't 'think so.” This is the power of God seen in our lives today. Power that is equal to no other. It is by this same power we have salvation (I Corinthians 1:18), the ability to forgive sins (Matthew 9:6), are filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8), have power to heal the sick (Mark 3:15), to cast out demons (Luke 1:9) and to resist the devil (James 4:7). Through this power God has delivered us from darkness (Colossians 1:13), His power works within us (Ephesians 3:20) and we have been given a spirit of power, love and a sound mind (II Timothy 2:12). Finally, “Blessing, and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and the Lamb, forever and ever!” May God's power be with us all today!

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