It was quiet- all the boys were in the bed. I had a few minutes of peace before I too went to bed. I walked through the back door to the patio outside. I looked around- it was dark- the air was warm, but not too warm. I heard my 70 lb puppy running to me, to nibble at my hand. I took a deep breath and let the air slowly out of my lungs. Peace and quiet- I am so thankful for that at the end of a busy day. Oh how I love the craziness of my boys and my life, but at night- the quiet revives me. I sat down in the swing- pushing it with my feet, I felt as if I could be "rocked to sleep". I laid down on the swing- with one foot still pushing me slowly. I closed my eyes- very relaxed- but only for a minute- because then I remembered, earlier in the day I saw in the corner of that same swing, a very large spider and a huge web. I begin to think.... what if that spider is crawling on me? Am I near the web? I laid very still trying to decide whether I was going to jump up, or just chance it and lay there.
The Holy Spirit suddenly reminded me of my protection from the battles in the spiritual world. We have no idea what goes on in the Spiritual Realm. And how we are protected from evil beyond our wildest imagination. So as I lay there very still - I begin to list ways we are protected.
First-
we must rely on God's power to defeat evil, not our own.
Second-
We must rebuke Satan in Jesus' name only.
Third-
We must protect ourselves with the Armor of God.
fourth- We must wage warfare by the Sword of the Spirit- which is the Word of God. And finally-
we must remember that while we are protected from the enemy, by the Full Armor of God, not every sin or problem is a demon that needs to be rebuked.
God is in control- And once we remember that and lay ourselves and our problems at his feet- we will have the peace and comfort we all long for.
So with all those thoughts running through my mind- I jumped up, shook my head, and moved around quickly, like a crazy person- trying to get that spider (
as if it was crawling on me) off !! And then I ran inside- so much for the peace and quiet! It is over rated anyway.
Amy
