Day 21

Day 21

‘Do not fear, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God,

  your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.
 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days.’ (Daniel 10:12-13)
Or to paraphrase: But the prince of the kingdom of darkness has withstood us for 21 days since Erica disappeared from our home. Detectives have pored over hours of video surveillance footage and come up with only 1 sighting from that first day. Countless tips checked out, but no leads materialized. Hundreds have covered Abbotsford’s streets: looking, asking any who might have seen her, posting flyers for all to see.
Her face is literally all over the city! Where is Erica?
Over 1500 follow Help Find Erica + thousands are praying all over this earth. Yet we have not yet found her.
Even the detectives admit this is not normal. Without trying to sensationalize: we are involved in something bigger than just a single lost person. As Mark observed at one point: we are engaged in spiritual warfare: a battle deeper than merely one person’s disappearance.
How do I know this is true and  I’m not just reacting through hurt that it’s my wife who has gone missing?

First: the constant intensity of enemy opposition. Our family has been under attack for some time; even our house was broken into this August one Sunday morning. They took stuff and the damage could have been much worse; but the sense of personal violation of our home hit deeply.
One week ago, during one of the darkest days of this journey, the news had not been good and I went for a walk in the woods near our house to hopefully clear the air. I walked up an overgrown trail and suddenly right there in front of my path  lay a snake, sunning itself in the warm afternoon sun. It was only a garter snake, but it was unusually big – huge in fact + it literally glared at me as it confronted + even reared up its head to challenge me.
This is totally uncharacteristic of a mere garter snake: I  know whih kingdom snakes represent.
Something welled up inside me + I immediately lunged forward to deliver a crushing death blow to the serpent’s head like Jesus in The Passion’s opening Gethsemane scene.  But it slithered away!
This was no mere snake.  Spiritual forces are confronting not only me + our family, but directly opposing the Body of  Christ and His call to arise + take the battle to the enemy!
Added confirmation came a further 50’ down my pat: one lonely piece of garbage, an empty Cheezies bag: Erica’s favourite junk food snack! I continued walking: leaves loosed by the wind softly fell in the woods, but the Spirit of the Lion of Judah roared through m: ‘Let Erica go!’
Have I provoked these satanic attacks when I challenged Kali the destroyer in Kathmandu or Artemis the hunter in Ephesus? Is Kali so upset she’s spirited my wife away? 
But isn’t that what Light’s supposed to do: challenge darkness? So… I declare again,
‘Jesus destroyed the enemy’s works at The Cross. He has destroyed the destroyer: Kali, Abaddon, Apollyon, I don’t   
 care whatever name he goes by, in whatever form or language.
 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord rebuke his lies; he must restore 7-fold!’
I feel somewhat like David when he returned to find his city Ziklag burned + his wives kidnapped.  But he encouraged himself in the Lord + pursued the enemy until all was restored, including his wives. I only have one!
Destroy or restore? Similar letters, but the faith + love of Jesus determine a very different result.

Second: It is quite evident God is at work in how the Body of Christ has responded in this attack.
We’ve been told this rallying of support is unprecedented: individuals who don’t even know us and churches in our city have been praying for Erica’s safe return. One detective expressed he’d not seen such an overwhelming response in all his 24 years of service.  
Groups are praying all over the earth: Estonia, Guatemala, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, the United States + United Kingdom, India, China, Vietnam and more!  
One woman dropped off supper last week + also testified she’s seen people focus on praying for Erica and lay aside their personal differences with others. Forgiveness + healing are flowing in Christ’s body; religious walls have come down; the Body of  Christ is arising + mobilizing for action and not just meetings.
That’s always been Erica the intercessor’s desire, although I’m sure she did not envision it happening this way.

              Third: I simply can’t believe that God would allow her to be taken from us at this time, except if it were to raise up 10 or 100 more prayer warriors/intercessors in her place.  Anything else simply flies against everything He has built in and through us up to this point. It’s all about more revelation, not retreating into shadows of mystery!

              As I wrote previously, timing is so very critical in our walk + NOW He’s speaking ‘Enduring’ to us:

 ‘But he who endures to the end will be saved, enter the reality of His promise fulfilled and see His desire the battle won. My family + I thank you with for your love + support with all our hearts, and  we also charge you,
 ‘Don’t give up! Persevere! Endure! Take up the torch! Fight the good fight!’ + like Gideon, we will see the Lord send forth an army of  light to destroy the principalities of darkness in our city + nations beyond!