No Weapon Formed

Eh! Yesterday was a challenge to get through, but by God’s grace we are here, alive and persevering. I am not one who is quick to give undue credit to our Enemy, but yesterday, if it could go wrong, it did go wrong in a major way. I could not help but believe that there was some spiritual warfare going on over and around us all day today. But by the authority of God’s Word, though, we are more than conquerors, and we claimed that over and over again today.

The day started around 5:30 as we got the whole family up, dressed, packed and out the door to catch our flight from Kisumu to Nairobi. We made it out the door just fine, with sleepy and slightly grumpy girls. The flight was about an hour late, and I just sat there thinking, “The girls could have been sleeping this whole hour.” But instead they were up, and up and up.

When we arrived to Nairobi, the car that picked us up had a flat tire, so we waited for that to be changed and then dropped the tire off to be fixed. Then we waited for some time to be picked up by someone who would show us the way to the house of the family that was to host us (did you follow that?). After about half an hour, the person arrived, and we began the journey to the house. Unfortunately, the accommodations were not enough for the family, plus my brother-in-law, so Rev left the girls and I there to head into Nairobi to find other accommodations for us.

They were stuck in Nairobi traffic for a few hours, meanwhile I was trying to settle the girls to take naps, in a new, noisy, different environment, which wasn’t working in the least. After several tantrums, crying spells, etc. they both passed out for a short while on the couch before they were awakened by the various noises of the house. It seems that the short nap made them grouchier than before they slept.

Meanwhile, as Rev was on his way back to pick us up, the truck broke down on the side of the road. So they were waiting for a tow truck, and I was waiting for them. They picked us up in a different car, and we went back to the truck with a friend to see if it could be fixed. There were tools in the back of the car that we were in that they needed to work on the truck, but, for some reason, the trunk was then refusing to open. After several minutes of fighting with the trunk, they abandoned that idea and went back to look further at the truck. No fixing possible, so we headed off to find a tow truck. As we were driving along the highway, the trunk conveniently became unstuck, flew open as our bags flew out across the road.

It was at this moment that we started to vocalize that we were dealing with more than just a string of unfortunate events, but were actually in the midst of a battle. And so as thing were being up off the highway and we were regrouping ourselves in the car to continue on the journey, we back to use our sword.

“The Enemy is a coward and has no power over us. No weapon formed against us can prosper, by the Authority of the Word of God. Because he cannot touch us as children of the Most High King, our cowardly enemy goes after the things around us. But they are just things that God has provided for us, and if God ordains that they should be taken away, it is for our good and for His glory, and so we let them go. We praise you Jesus for the opportunity to walk away from things and cling to You. We thank you for the opportunity to persevere.”

As the words were leaving our mouths, spirits were lifted and laughter filled the car. Satan can take our things, but he cannot take our joy, and that is the powerful witness against him.

We were able to find a tow truck and get the truck to a garage where it is currently being worked on. We were able to find a Catholic guest house to rest for the night, though the quarters were quite tight. They are not accustomed to having families stay there, so the girls slept in a twin-sized bed, and Rev and I slept on a twin-sized mattress on the floor. As the room was being set up with the extra mattress, Rev and his brother stepped out to try to find something to eat (they had not eaten all day and the girls had not eaten since lunch; it was now 9pm). They came back to report that the car had sustained yet another flat tire, the second one for the day, and that this time it had in fact shredded the tire. Just to keep things interesting.

Somewhere between the cold that I have had for the past few days, the plane ride to Nairobi, and the hectic day, I developed a raging ear infection, which was hurting to even open my mouth. I was leaning over the bed to just cry out to Jesus about it all. I said, “Oh, Jesus!” Toria was listening and came over to me to ask “Mama, do you want Jesus?”

Me: “Yes, baby, I do want Jesus.”

Toria: “Ok, then, let’s go take a bath.”

Because taking a bath will get us closer to Jesus. I like her theology.

We were quite blessed to lay our heads down for the night and call the day finished. I don’t pretend to know what goes on in the heavenly realms, but I do know that Scripture says that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. It seems that someone might feel a bit threatened, so we will praise the Name of Jesus for the day that we had and push ahead.

If you are a praying people at all, would you please raise up your shield of faith with us to extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. We would greatly appreciate it. Today has been bathed in prayers, and God has been faithful and merciful. We were able to move to another guest house that has been a great blessing. It has a place where the girls can play and actually be kids again for a little while. They are currently resting quite hard for their afternoon naps, which blesses mama greatly! Rev and David are in town trying to get the truck fixed and get us ready to leave for Ethiopia tomorrow.
No weapon formed against us may prosper. This much I know. Grace and peace to you! Thank you for adventuring with us. It means more than I could ever verbalize to you.