Yesterday Vanessa and I walked down back to the pond, where we sat on the grass and talked for a while. See, Tuesday marked our one year anniversary--May 12th, last year, was the day that God told us that we'd be married. What an adventure...time goes by so fast. It's become even easier to see God's blessings; to see how His power has kept us moving forward.
And we took time at the pond to make new pledges to each other and just look back on all the memories that The Lord's given us so far. What a year it's been! We could never have dreamed up a story so dramatic, so beautiful, or so thoughtful. And we didn't have to, because God did the planning for us.
We were joined on our walk by our cat, Fearless. He showed up at just the right time, and then followed us down to the pond--he's such a ministering spirit! He was hanging around nearby during our time together, too. God has him on puppet strings--that's how often he's used to speak to us.
And after a while, Vanessa and I got into prayer. We're holding hands in prayer, facing each other, when Fearless came up. Then he climbed right up onto our laps, right between us, and laid a paw on each of our legs. Like I said, what a minister! He stayed there, just resting, for the remainder of our praying. I think He sensed the Holy Spirit! Praise God, once we got into really praying and speaking God's heart, Fearless just didn't want to leave.
Anyways, God ensured that all three of us had a wonderful time. V and I finished praying and stood up, ready to head back. It was just getting dark--around 8:30--and we were ready to go. There was a loud crackling noise in the woods, probably 100 feet away, but I discounted it as noise after noticing that Vanessa wasn't too concerned.
We're getting ready to leave when we noticed Fearless acting strange...then all of a sudden, things changed. I looked towards my left, out into the wood line, and felt the fear sink into me.
There was a large, brilliant white animal running towards us. It looked like a big cat--like a bobcat or mountain lion. And it was running and jumping, coming right towards us. I watched, kind of shocked, as it sprinted out from the wood line and into the field we were at the edge of. I said to Vanessa, "Oh my gosh, there's something over there. It's big. Run, run, run!"
And we took off running! It was pretty intense. I keep looking back towards my left, and I could see this animal coming towards us. I yelled at Vanessa to run faster--I wanted her to stay ahead of me and away from the cat--and in that moment, my mind started to wander and the flashbacks started coming...
"...Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end...." Ecclesiastes 3:11
...And I was thinking to the Lord, 'is this it?' I felt that whatever was chasing us would soon finish me off. I began thinking of eternity, and noticed peace begin to displace some of the fear that had come on. 'It won't be so bad', I thought. 'I just want Vanessa to run faster and stay ahead of me.'
In that initial ten seconds of running, the Lord had gotten me pretty well prepared for the end. But then, all of a sudden, something clicked. 'No, this can't be it! It's not our time yet. Maybe there's a way out of all this...'
Then I semi-randomly remembered some of St Francis of Assisi's epic encounters with animals (I'll let you decide on their validity for yourselves, but hey, what stories) ....and thought, 'hey, maybe there's hope!'
** SIDE NOTE:
Now, I've seen dogs, cats, birds, and even hornets obey commands given in the name of Jesus. There was one dog in particular that just wouldn't listen to me--I wanted it to stay inside it's gate--until I commanded it to stay off the porch in Jesus' name. When I was in the flesh, this dog behaved terribly, but when I was filled with the Holy Spirit, it would literally bow down before me.
"You have made them a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet..." Psalm 8:5-6 **
So, the flashbacks continued, and I realized what I needed to do. This current situation was a little more intense than any previous encounter with animals I'd had, but God took hold of me nonetheless. And I remembered to use His name.
Still running, and still urgently shouting at Vanessa to "run faster!!!", I looked back, put out my hand, and commanded that animal--that giant cat-- to stop in the name of Jesus. I was still scared, but I knew God was bringing me up under His authority. I was still really scared, actually, but I felt held up by a power greater than myself.
I didn't see any more flashes of white after that. I didn't see anything chasing us--it must have turned off or stopped. Praise God. Still, we kept running all the way back to the house. I kept telling Vanessa to run faster. I didn't want her to get eaten or anything! We looked back again and again, and there was....nothing. It was as if the whole experience had happened miles away.
We got back to the house a little shocked, still having a hard time believing what had happened. I knew God had protected us. Our sprint to safety probably took a minute, yet I think that thing could have caught us within 20 seconds at the speed it was going. In hindsight, God led me to take authority. And He allowed that situation to begin in order to reveal to us His authority. He turned a dangerous situation around for the good!
Wow. Talk about a rush! We went back inside, and I began doubting what I saw. I got on the computer and researched white bobcats (they do exist!). Also, as it turns out, Vanessa never saw anything--she just responded to my shouting and took off. But I had seen the cat, twice...and so I asked God to confirm the reality of what just happened. Right away, He gave us via 'random chance' a verse in Genesis, Genesis 1:26:
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
Wow! What a confirmation--that was my first thought. God gave us dominion in that situation. He preserved our lives according to His Word (Psalm 119:25). What a way to culminate our time at the pond. God sure makes things exciting.
Vanessa thought it so fitting that this happened right after our pledges, as she said that it showed her that I really would lay down my life for her. She described to me afterwards that I'd told her, "just keep going, I'll be OK!" while we were running for our lives. (It's a little blurry to me now.) She said, as this had happened right after our pledges, that God was allowing us to be in a situation that proved my love for her. She said that after this, she'll never doubt my love for her. Like I said, God keeps life exciting and really does work everything for the good!
And we took time at the pond to make new pledges to each other and just look back on all the memories that The Lord's given us so far. What a year it's been! We could never have dreamed up a story so dramatic, so beautiful, or so thoughtful. And we didn't have to, because God did the planning for us.
We were joined on our walk by our cat, Fearless. He showed up at just the right time, and then followed us down to the pond--he's such a ministering spirit! He was hanging around nearby during our time together, too. God has him on puppet strings--that's how often he's used to speak to us.
And after a while, Vanessa and I got into prayer. We're holding hands in prayer, facing each other, when Fearless came up. Then he climbed right up onto our laps, right between us, and laid a paw on each of our legs. Like I said, what a minister! He stayed there, just resting, for the remainder of our praying. I think He sensed the Holy Spirit! Praise God, once we got into really praying and speaking God's heart, Fearless just didn't want to leave.
Anyways, God ensured that all three of us had a wonderful time. V and I finished praying and stood up, ready to head back. It was just getting dark--around 8:30--and we were ready to go. There was a loud crackling noise in the woods, probably 100 feet away, but I discounted it as noise after noticing that Vanessa wasn't too concerned.
We're getting ready to leave when we noticed Fearless acting strange...then all of a sudden, things changed. I looked towards my left, out into the wood line, and felt the fear sink into me.
There was a large, brilliant white animal running towards us. It looked like a big cat--like a bobcat or mountain lion. And it was running and jumping, coming right towards us. I watched, kind of shocked, as it sprinted out from the wood line and into the field we were at the edge of. I said to Vanessa, "Oh my gosh, there's something over there. It's big. Run, run, run!"
And we took off running! It was pretty intense. I keep looking back towards my left, and I could see this animal coming towards us. I yelled at Vanessa to run faster--I wanted her to stay ahead of me and away from the cat--and in that moment, my mind started to wander and the flashbacks started coming...
"...Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end...." Ecclesiastes 3:11
...And I was thinking to the Lord, 'is this it?' I felt that whatever was chasing us would soon finish me off. I began thinking of eternity, and noticed peace begin to displace some of the fear that had come on. 'It won't be so bad', I thought. 'I just want Vanessa to run faster and stay ahead of me.'
In that initial ten seconds of running, the Lord had gotten me pretty well prepared for the end. But then, all of a sudden, something clicked. 'No, this can't be it! It's not our time yet. Maybe there's a way out of all this...'
Then I semi-randomly remembered some of St Francis of Assisi's epic encounters with animals (I'll let you decide on their validity for yourselves, but hey, what stories) ....and thought, 'hey, maybe there's hope!'
** SIDE NOTE:
Now, I've seen dogs, cats, birds, and even hornets obey commands given in the name of Jesus. There was one dog in particular that just wouldn't listen to me--I wanted it to stay inside it's gate--until I commanded it to stay off the porch in Jesus' name. When I was in the flesh, this dog behaved terribly, but when I was filled with the Holy Spirit, it would literally bow down before me.
"You have made them a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet..." Psalm 8:5-6 **
So, the flashbacks continued, and I realized what I needed to do. This current situation was a little more intense than any previous encounter with animals I'd had, but God took hold of me nonetheless. And I remembered to use His name.
Still running, and still urgently shouting at Vanessa to "run faster!!!", I looked back, put out my hand, and commanded that animal--that giant cat-- to stop in the name of Jesus. I was still scared, but I knew God was bringing me up under His authority. I was still really scared, actually, but I felt held up by a power greater than myself.
I didn't see any more flashes of white after that. I didn't see anything chasing us--it must have turned off or stopped. Praise God. Still, we kept running all the way back to the house. I kept telling Vanessa to run faster. I didn't want her to get eaten or anything! We looked back again and again, and there was....nothing. It was as if the whole experience had happened miles away.
We got back to the house a little shocked, still having a hard time believing what had happened. I knew God had protected us. Our sprint to safety probably took a minute, yet I think that thing could have caught us within 20 seconds at the speed it was going. In hindsight, God led me to take authority. And He allowed that situation to begin in order to reveal to us His authority. He turned a dangerous situation around for the good!
Wow. Talk about a rush! We went back inside, and I began doubting what I saw. I got on the computer and researched white bobcats (they do exist!). Also, as it turns out, Vanessa never saw anything--she just responded to my shouting and took off. But I had seen the cat, twice...and so I asked God to confirm the reality of what just happened. Right away, He gave us via 'random chance' a verse in Genesis, Genesis 1:26:
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
Wow! What a confirmation--that was my first thought. God gave us dominion in that situation. He preserved our lives according to His Word (Psalm 119:25). What a way to culminate our time at the pond. God sure makes things exciting.
Vanessa thought it so fitting that this happened right after our pledges, as she said that it showed her that I really would lay down my life for her. She described to me afterwards that I'd told her, "just keep going, I'll be OK!" while we were running for our lives. (It's a little blurry to me now.) She said, as this had happened right after our pledges, that God was allowing us to be in a situation that proved my love for her. She said that after this, she'll never doubt my love for her. Like I said, God keeps life exciting and really does work everything for the good!
Love never fails!
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