Spiritual Warfare

The first time I saw this woman I was with two other team members, Alleigh and Jackie, while walking back from ministry in the beautiful Costa Rican rain. The rain here is warm. This woman was wearing very little clothing and washing off in the rain. We said, “hola” and she immediately responded in English with “do you belong to a church?” We said yes and she shewed us away. Not wanting to make any assumptions about the situation, we just prayed that Jesus would show her His face and that if it is His will we would meet her again. 

The second time I saw this woman was yesterday and I was with Alleigh again. She was in the same clothing. We said hello and she just repeatedly responded with “you need to leave here and go back to America it’s not safe here. It’s not safe here you need to leave. It’s not safe here.” As she was speaking her eyes were fluttering. When she was close to me so that I was breathing the same air as her, the air felt heavier and hot. It felt thick. There was a difference. She poked me in the stomach and I went to reach out to hold her hand, but she pulled away at contact. She backed up and started to dance away so we asked for her name. She said “why do you want to know?” She stuck her tongue out, not in the way a child does but as if she was disgusted. She turned her back and walked off. Alleigh and I prayed for her, not wishing anything on her that she doesn’t want or wasn’t ready for (Matthew 12:43-45), but for her safety. We also prayed for ourselves because once she left my body literally felt heavier. 

Call it what you want. I call it spiritual warfare. 

But Take heart…
“In all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39)