Archived from http://doinglikewise.blogspot.com/
Have you ever wondered what Spiritual warfare looks like in the natural? We speak of it and use some reference of understanding but how many times can we describe it in real terms and real times in specific ways other than wars or calamities of personal degradation. I think we sometimes have the opportunity to witness a battle and see also what the war was about, seldom, perhaps, but never the less, it does happen.
If we say as Christians that very little or nothing is pure circumstance then as circumstance grows into epic proportions we have to allow for there to be connection and some purpose. Otherwise we are trying but cannot hold ‘both and’ or ‘choice by perception’ perspectives. In this understanding I present to you a story of our most recent trip to Kenya and the greater village area of Sengera location. You decide what you believe.
Without a doubt my view is somewhat filtered by my involvement so there is an awareness in me of situations which certainly exacerbated the confusion leading up to the initial realization that “something was wrong”. Too much time on these may change the focus to the errors of any individual failure, but, it is necessary to allow that even in times of our personal failure, God, who knows all and is timeless in His plan, is ‘more than able’ and is above all.
It is part of the nature of a group traveling that there will be change. So not unusual is the need to be flexible and work within that change. This trip however there was more than the usual amount. Persons who were going, decided they could not, early on and later on, so the information zipping around is or was confusing. Add to this late or last minute additions, complicated by the need for documentation not yet available, and the potential grows for mistakes.
Having gone through all this change the day finally came for departure. The late addition was a Pastor, he had believed he was to go yet the funding came in late as did his passport, adding to the potential for problem. Never the less we arrived at the International terminal in Los Angeles in high spirits and ready for our African adventure. It was the Pastor who was the last to arrive, for reasons beyond his control and he arrived late but still in time for a late check in and off to the gate through security. I met him on the street and hurried him to the check in where all seemed good . . .until . . . until the gate attendant told us he had missed his flight and all his itinerary was cancelled and we would have to get new ticketing through our travel agent, who, by the way, was in NY. This was absolutely unbelievable, unacceptable, inconceivable yet unfortunately the fact. Somehow in the urgency of last minute change the booking agent had changed the flight assignment for this Pastor, I stood there facing the Pastor and apologized for the situation and told him he would stay behind, the plane was loading with less than an hour to departure. Horrifying!! Embarrassing!! Humiliating!! Heart Breaking!!!
But God was in charge and He had already cleared a path which by faith and obedience, if followed, would accomplish His plan.
I arrived in the gate area and notified the other travelers, who are friends of the Pastor, of the terrible news. After just a minute of upset one traveler, I will call him the producer, brought his new hand held computer and began looking up other flight options. Three things here need to be noticed: First we were looking at a final destination which was half way around the world, second our arrival at the final destination had to be close in time proximity because of further travel time by vehicle to the final location of the village, third the Pastor had never traveled outside the country, let alone to a far place which he would be shown (even though he had some information).
Maybe most significantly is the manner in which the producer even had the hand held computer in the first place. The story here is that during the week before our departure the producer had tried to secure one of these but found it impossible due to the high demand. However during a conversation with a colleague, who happened to know someone who knew someone, you have heard this kind of concept before, at the last minute such a device came into his hands and he made an ‘11th hour’ decision to take it along.
Back to our time in the gate area.
During the previous week the producer had tried to find a way to lengthen his stay and during this process looked at alternative carriers and flight potential to our ultimate destination. So with this in mind he went on line, checked the carrier web site and found that seats were available the next day, which, without a layover such as we had, would get the Pastor to our destination 1 hour in advance of our arrival. To shorten the story I will just say we were able to contact the Pastor and he went on line or called the carrier, made the flight arrangements and the next morning was on his way. Alone, through a different carrier than we normally use, connecting through a foreign city in the Middle East, traveling on faith alone. He made it to our destination, Nairobi, Kenya. We were able to connect with our destination contacts that were also able to move their travel time to pick up our Pastor friend prior to our arrival.
WOW, if this alone was the story it would still be a great one, but this is not the end.
Do you think there is warfare if nothing is at stake? Could this be just dumb bad luck overcome by plain old good luck assisted by technology? I mean stuff happens and without knowing an outcome of the intervention which seems to have taken place, warfare hardly seems an appropriate word.
Yes, in Kenya, we were reunited with our traveling companion and very glad for that. Things planned were back on track. (besides this time frame opened the door for our traveling Pastor to have significant conversation with our host Pastor, an affinity developed which led to a greater degree of involvement in the days ahead for the traveling Pastor, which is the testimony to why this was warfare.)
More on the warfare purpose in the next post.
May our God richly bless and provide for His purpose in you
Bud Potter