Why I’m Here- Or Several Accounts of Spiritual Warfare.

I first heard about the Race in May. May of this year. About 3 months ago. I was getting coffee with a friend who was sharing a little about her experience on the World Race. In the middle of talking she kind of stopped and looked at me and said “I feel like you would be really good on the World Race.” She mentioned this pretty casually. I was a little surprised and a little flattered and mostly thought “oh, that’s kinda cool and nice of her to say.” 

It was this fun little “what if” in my head. Maybe in another world when I’m not a full time jeweler and artist.

I expected to just move on and most likely forget about it.
However the Lord just laid it on my heart and kept it there. I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Eventually I decided to dig a little deeper and see what it was all about. So I asked my friend if we could get coffee again so that I could pick her brain about it. We ended up having to reschedule, not once, not twice, but three times for various reasons. By the third time I was sure of what I had suspected from the beginning: that there was spiritual warfare going on that was trying to prevent me from pursuing this further.
That realization was what made me sit up and pay attention. If this was worth it to demons to try and disrupt it then it was clearly important.

Many people would have thought of it as a simple inconvenience or schedules that didn’t line up well enough. But God knew that I would know. He knew that by the third time I would recognize it- and He used that to speak to me.

I finally got a chance to talk to my friend and get a better sense for the race. I decided that yes- this was something I wanted to do and that yes- this was something I felt the Lord was calling me to do.

And then what did I do? Nothing. I didn’t look at routes, or read blogs, or anything like that. I didn’t consciously think this but I had a sense that I would “get around to it.”

After a while of this, I was in a study on Gideon by Priscilla Shirer. In the very first video she is talking about “ a divine green light” and how sometimes God tells us yes to something but we don’t act on it right away. (She used the example of a time when her boys were being rowdy and she took the opportunity of a red light to turn around and sort them out, only to turn back and see the yellow light turn to red again). This message came through to me loud and clear, and I began my application the next day.

Another detail of interest is that on the morning of the day when I had my phone interview- I forgot my phone. My interview was scheduled for my lunch break since I work 9-5. Not once have I forgotten to take my phone to work with me. I got about 5 or 6 minutes down the road before I realized it and immediately recognized it as another instance of spiritual warfare. This realization again, instead of discouraging me or setting me back, spurred me on and gave me the confirmation that this was important. I was able to go back and get my phone and I think I still made it to work on time.  

Job 1 talks about Satan having to ask the Lord’s permission before he can interfere with Job’s life. In Mark 5, a legion of demons even asks Jesus’ permission to possess a herd of pigs. The gravity of these things was not lost on me. I find it remarkable to picture the interaction: Satan or some lesser demon asking permission to try and interfere with my journey towards the World Race. I find it even more remarkable to think that God used it to speak words of encouragement to me- that these moments were some of the most crucial in letting me know that this was the right thing for me to be pursuing. God is good. I look forward to seeing all the ways that He will continue to turn the devil’s efforts against himself.