It had been one of those mornings where I pushed through my morning worship. Dry, distracted. I had sadness in my heart over my failures and constant struggles. Yet I pushed through. When I feel like this, it generally helps for me to take a long morning walk outside to clear my mind and focus on God through nature.
It was a very cold, brisk November morning. Sun and clouds hung over the sky. It was refreshing. I had avoided walking in the beloved wooded area on my property all summer due to increased tick activity in the northeast, but at this time there was no fear of that due to the cold. So I bundled up and took off uphill in the quiet woods behind my house with my walking stick. I wept before the Lord as I prayed and bore my soul before Him. Just like the psalmist in Psalm 55:17... “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice” ...I did just that, and I believe God heard the sentiments of my heart. As I trudged along my heart felt lighter, and before I knew it I had wandered off my desired course.
I wasn’t lost, as I knew intimately the areas I had roamed there over the years. I ended up about a mile-and-a-half from my property on an adjoining, paved road as I came down from the forest. When I got on the road, I decided to take my cell phone out of my pocket and check for service. I ended up calling my dear prayer partner, Joan. We chatted for a bit and suddenly, from what seemed out of nowhere, three large dogs started barreling off of a nearby property and headed straight towards me! They barked and growled ferociously as they ran, and I was absolutely terrified.
My friend heard the dogs and I simply told her what was happening. She immediately went into warfare-prayer on my behalf, praising God for angels that have charge over us (Psalm 91:11) and pleading the blood of Jesus over me (Revelation 12:11). Oh what power! She praised God for His power and omnipotence, for there is none like Him: “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:5-6). As she prayed, I never stopped walking, looking forward and audibly praising God and thanking Him for being a shield about me… “But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head” (Psalm 3:3). In my terror, I was strangely calm and unafraid all at the same time!
I felt those dogs right around my feet behind and around me. I never looked directly at them. I just prayed and asked God to keep them from biting or mauling me. For what seemed like an eternity, I just walked, looking only forward without stopping or changing my pace. Finally, as my friend and I continually prayed and praised, they just stopped barking around me and went back home.
God showed me so much that morning! I needed a revelation of His love and watch-care over me. I had felt so low and so unimportant just a few minutes prior to this experience. God heard my cry, read my heart and said, “Lisa, you are very valuable to me. I’m not done with you yet” (Matthew 10:31). He spoke to me and reminded me that He has loved me with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). He reminded me of His faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23). Truly He means it when He says in His word that, “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them” (Psalm 34:7). Praise His name!!
Call to Action
It is so important to remember that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). He is only a prayer away!
Will you join me in determining to push through those moments of emotional drought and seek the Lord beyond our feelings, to fall on the Rock and take refuge in the Lord of Glory, Jesus Christ, and give Him the opportunity to lift us up out of the darkness and into His marvelous Light?
All scripture taken from the King James Version.
