Spiritual warfare is one of those issues that many people choose to ignore rather than engage in. Unfortunately, even if we don't want to admit it we are always in a spiritual battle. In Ephesians 6 Paul admonishes us to take up the armor of the Lord and fight the good fight. He reminds us that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against evil spiritual forces in heavenly places.
As we continue to follow the Lord on this journey of obedience He has called us to we see the battle raging around us, and it seems to continue to strengthen. We are thankful that our Commander and Chief is the Lord of Lords. If God is for us, who can come against us?
We have seen over and over God's hand of protection on our family. Our Sovereign God has allowed only what we can handle as we rest in Him. He has strengthened our faith and proven His faithfulness over and over.
We experienced one such incident this past weekend. Let me give you the middle length version...
This weekend we took a load of our stuff to Jamie's uncle and aunt's house where we will be storing our "keep" pile while we are in Zambia. We were planning on organizing our stuff there and then Sunday morning Jamie was going to meet with the mission committee from their church about possible support.
Saturday morning was nice and slow, so Jamie decided he would go down to the creek in the field behind their house to go fishing. One year he caught ten bass in twenty minutes in this creek. Where Jamie was fishing the creek bed dropped down, so when you looked down at the creek all you could see was Jamie's black hat. He was fly fishing and wearing a black sweater.
The neighbor looked out his back deck and thought he saw a large crow down at the creek. He grabbed his .22 long rifle and figured he would take a shot at the bird to scare it away. The neighbor aimed at the "bird" (Jamie's head) but, by the grace of God, due to the distance of the shot the bullet hit the back of his left leg. The bullet entered his left calf and fractured his tibia and is still lodged there. When the neighbor realized he didn't shoot a bird, but shot Jamie he was really shaken up. He is a wonderful friend and brother in Christ. After a trip to the ER Jamie is on crutches for his fracture and has an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow to see if the bullet needs to be surgically removed.
Please pray for Jamie as his body heals. So far the pain has not been bad for what we would have expected for a gun shot wound. Please pray for the doctors that they would have the discernment they need to accurately diagnose Jamie's medical needs. Most of all we ask that you would pray for our friend who shot Jamie. He has a lot to deal with emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. He is personally fully engaged in the spiritual battle and Satan is doing whatever he can to stop him. We figured Satan thought he could kill two birds with one stone. Thankfully our God is faster than a speeding bullet. Our mighty Protector. We praise and thank Him for his protection and love for us.
Thank you so much for your prayers and concern. We'll keep you updated as we find out more.
As Jamie said, "I know we're engaged in spiritual warfare, but I never expected live ammunition."
If any of you want to see Jamie's "man pictures" of the wound just email him and he would be happy to share.
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