For our struggle 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. Ephesians 6:12
This is a verse in the Bible that most people know and have
read. But have you really thought about it? Do you believe it? So many times we
have struggles in this world and we see the difficulties. We see relationships
failing and financial problems and marital difficulties but we are just seeing
the physical manifestation of a much deeper problem. Our battle is not against
people or political parties. Our battle is in the spiritual realm. This battle
is hard to see when living in a first world country where we often rely on our
physical comforts, but take those comforts away and we strip bare the deception
of the enemy and begin to see the spiritual battle at hand.
I know that some of those reading this are not Christian and
do not believe in the spiritual realm. Our culture teaches us to believe only
what we see and experience. And we draw a distinct line between the spiritual
world and the physical world. The truth is that that is a uniquely western
culture point of view. The rest of the world does not draw a line between the
two but views them as constantly blending and mixing. We see rain and believe
it comes from a low pressure system. They see the rain and believe it is the hand of
God. Both are truth. It is a low pressure system but something long ago set into motion a set of events that caused that system to be right over your location at that specific time.
On a recent trip upriver I visited the church of Jesus de
Nazaret. It is remote location about two days’ travel from Yurimaguas by river. It is an
active church with over 120 members because it is strategically located between
two communities. They have a nearby heath clinic but it is poorly staffed and
lacks basic medicine. Upon visiting I met a man with worms in his leg. He told
me the mother worm lays eggs and the babies feed on the flesh and then
eventually crawl out. He could barely walk and said already two worms have crawled out. I asked him if he visited the clinic and he said yes but they had no treatment for him. He said he knows many people with the same ailment and no hope of
treatment. As a result, for generations the people have relied on the witch doctor. The witch doctor is powerful. He can heal and he can kill. This
may seem unbelievable but it is real. He can enter the spiritual world and kill
someone many miles away. It happens.
The witch doctor is rich. He charges for his power and
charges a lot. The people are poor and barely have food to eat but will pay handsomely
for the healing of the witch doctor.
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| The church in Jesus de Nazaret |
On the first night we had a beautiful church service. People
walked from all around and even though it was an impromptu service on a Tuesday
night over 100 people came. They didn’t fit in the small building and many had
to stand outside. After worship and a message, a man approached the front of
the church. He wanted to repent, saying that he had walked away from God. He
repented to the whole church and declared that he wanted to return to God. Then
he asked for prayer as he was sick and had a lot of pain. We prayed for him and
then returned to worship. I was traveling with Pastor Alberto and he is a
talented worship leader. Normally they listen to music on a USB for worship and
the words are in Spanish and many do not understand. Alberto brought his
keyboard which we hooked up to the generator and he began to sing in Shawi. As
a result, all could understand, except me of course, and they did not want to stop worship. It went
on for another hour after the message. Then the man returned back up front. He
explained to all that he had been visiting the witch doctor. That was what he had been repenting of earlier in the evening. He had paid the witch doctor a large
amount of money and had not received healing. Now he had returned to God and
had received healing. During the prayer, all the pain left his body and he was
healed. For the first time in months he was pain free. Everyone rejoiced giving praise to God.
The service ended and we finally crawled into bed around
11:30. Exhausted. But our night was just beginning.
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| The house where we stayed the night |
A few minutes later we heard a commotion and there was loud
talking in the dark. Alberto said that a child was at the point of death and
they were taking her to the church. We jumped out of bed and ran to the church
to find a young girl around 10-years-old laying on a bench. She was screaming
at the top of her lungs and was surrounded by the pastors and leaders of the
church praying. I had no idea what was happening and wanted to ask but then
I came to a realization. It is the middle of the night. We are in the middle of
the jungle two days’ travel from mediocre health care. I have no health care
experience. If I know her problem or not there is nothing I can do, except
pray. So I joined the men and we prayed.
The screaming lasted about ten minutes and finally she fell asleep. The women kept sticking their fingers under
her nose to feel for her breath. The men talked quietly. I asked Alberto what
her problem was and he said it was something about her breath that I didn’t understand.
Then he said, “It doesn’t matter, she is healed now.” I didn’t push him because
he was right. It didn’t matter what was the problem. I have never felt so
helpless and reliant on God.
In the states we would have called 911. She would have been
rushed to the emergency room and hook up to meds and monitors. We might not
even have prayed but trusted the medical system. It appears that God is not necessary.
But I would argue the opposite. God is necessary. The enemy’s
greatest deception is to make us believe we are self reliant. We do our best to
live in safety and comfort and to control the situations around us. We do not
need God. But that is a lie. We are not in control. We do not know the date or
hour of our death or even what tomorrow will bring.
We were a helpless people in the hands of a sovereign God.
God is our refuge and strength, not the government, not the
church, not our friends or family, not the healthcare system and definitely not
ourselves.
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in
trouble. Psalm 46:1
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| Some of my new friends |
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| My new friend Irma Luz with her pet monkey |
