Safety

There is no safer place to be than in the will of God. It’s cliché, but it’s also truth.

Stepping off the airplane was the beginning of a surreal experience for me. I had worked at the language so diligently and dreamed so much of being here. In the US, Dari speakers were hard to find. The poor owners of the Philadelphia area’s only Afg. restaurant had put up with my weekly visits for an entire year. Finally, a part of the world where Dari is the norm was under my feet! Crater pocked roads, people living in destroyed buildings, men with machine guns and armored military convoys everywhere provided the backdrop, not the substance of daily life. Kidnapping is a constant concern; there is always a relentless behind-the-scenes pressure while the pleasures and routines unfold. Occasionally, there is an explosion in town – I try not to let that impact my day, even though there will be extra detours and traffic jams. I try to keep the war somewhere else, beyond the mountains, or on the other side of the TV tube. As far as it depends on me, count me as a non-participant in this war.

It is quite natural to want to be a non-participant in spiritual warfare, as well. No one in their right mind wants to be involved in any type of real war. The Spirit will lead us right into the middle of some confused battle, and incoming shots will be aimed at our soul. At this point, most people refuse to believe that a loving God is directing them. Yet it is the Holy Spirit who, in the Father’s wisdom, positions us in the battle.

During time spent running it has always been important for me to let my mind wander – that is why I do not need vacations. Now, it is always necessary to focus on whoever might be interested in staging an abduction, since I run alone. It is also hard on me that my home is such a center of social activity, (just as in Costa Rica) even though Hamroz joyfully bears the lion’s share of the labor. That some neighbors hate me just for living in freedom wears on my phlegmatic personality. As incredible untold problems, challenges and demands spring up, it appears that they were specifically designed to make me quit. Because they were. Thank you, Holy Spirit.

Our strategy for spiritual warfare is to never worry about how pathetic our capabilities are and to keep firing back with whatever we’ve got. No one fights alone; our isolation is only an illusion. Not only are the heavenly hosts often willing to follow our lead, our successes affect others across the entire field of battle. Our little “unseen” advances (and retreats) force turning points in stories of people we will not meet until after the enemy gates have been reduced to rubble. The gates of hell can never go on the offensive – gates are fixed defensive positions. There is great rejoicing when the church, united with Him, is revealed in new, unexpected positions right up under the enemy gates.