Lions

I expect that some will read this post and just walk away scratching their heads. I have even thought about not posting this entry and just keeping it in my head. But it won't let me go, so...I feel compelled to let it go.

Today was one of those red letter days that can only happen when you work full-time in a pregnancy center. It never escapes my notice that this is a ministry of high highs and low lows. I guess when you stand in the gap between life and death you should expect there to be some bumps in the road. I do know that some don't view this work as standing in the gap between life and death. No they view it as the gap between a woman's right to do what she wants with her body and other people trying to get in her business. Sometimes I tire of that debate. For me, it is life or death. That's it. Not that that makes it simple, the issues that bring women to our center are never simple. But inside her womb is life and it will either be allowed to continue or it will not.

As a Christian I understand that God is the author of life and that there is an enemy that is against anything God is for. So for me I understand that there is a spiritual battle to this work. The Bible is not silent on this topic. Today something happened that made that part of the fight far to real.

I left early due to some errands I had to run but couldn't shake the events of the day. I called a dear friend who stopped what she was doing and prayed for me as I drove to my first stop. As she prayed I reflected on the evil I had felt earlier and she prayed about satan being a gnat in my ear trying to distract and all I could think of was this is no tiny gnat. It felt like a lion, and the Bible verse that speaks of satan being like a lion roaming the earth seeking who he can devour began to come to my mind. At the same time my thoughts turn to Aslan of Narnia. It was just a few seconds after these thoughts that I heard my friend's voice on the phone include in her prayer Aslan and Lucy (she does great word pictures). It was about this time that I arrived at my first stop and was able to park my car. I allowed my friend's prayer to wash over me with truth and calm yet it was hard to ignore the darkness of the day.

We said Amen and then goodbye and I thanked this dear sister in the Lord for her time and prayer. I went into the store and it felt like I had walked right into the arms of God. It was a Christian Bookstore and every sight and every sound reminded me of my Lord. Then as I walked by an end-cap I noticed a book with a picture of Aslan from Narnia on it. My soul smiled even if I couldn't.

Back in my car the image of satan prowling the earth like a lion came back to my mind. But this time the lion came face to face with another Lion. The two stared into each others eyes and they looked almost identical. Then the Lion roared. If it were real I imagined it would be a roar so loud that my ears would ring for hours or maybe even cause me to go deaf. While the Lion roared the other lion suddenly looked completely different. It was smaller and weak, skin and bones, no fight in him, he just hung his head and looked pathetic.

I am strengthened by the prayer of a dear friend and the thought of my God standing in the gap with me. The Lion of Judah. The song I've heard so many times surrounds me with great comfort in this moment, "If my God is for me, who can be against me."

I will get up tomorrow and walk by faith that God will equip me for the battle; whatever that might be. That nothing escapes His notice or happens without His knowledge. And that it is God who has placed me in this fight; to stand for truth, to love those many would not, to cry when tears are all there are, and to protect the most unprotected people group in this nation - the unborn.