Sand, Spoons, and Snipers

A few months ago, the Lord began to speak to me about three things, 1) the desert (as the dwelling place of the enemy), and all of these secret underground tunnels; 2) a silver spoon and wads of gum on the ground; and 3) a sniper. At first consideration, they all seemed pretty individual and unrelated. Yet I somehow knew they were different views of the same thing.

So, the first thing, the desert and the underground tunnels...The Lord showed me that what I was doing was taking "it" right to the enemy's doorstep; taking out the foundations of where he's (satan) been working. Everything I was doing was below ground, below the surface and by myself. I was a bit isolated and working alone. He gave me a promise of sustenance, peace, angelic protection, and comfort.

Second thing, I had a little shiny teaspoon in my hand and I was on my hands and knees. There were wads of gum on the ground and I was totally intent on getting them, picking that gum up off the ground. It was tedious and quite humbling, but I was fully committed to do it. He showed me I was cleaning up what people had thrown down in disregard for other people; scooping up this spit-out stuff from others so that no one would step in it and have to deal with the mess.

Third thing, I was like a sniper. In warfare, snipers go well before the troops move en masse. I was taking the fight right to the enemy. My skills in this warfare were sharp, but again, as the sniper, I was all alone and there was not a lot of support.

The Lord told me to pray for people to be raised up around me so I would not be alone in this. It was not His will for me to be down on my knees and alone. He said He would speak to other people to come and grab their spoons, and to get down next to me and just get this job done. 

One of the number one things I pray for and labor over before the Lord is that my family (all members!) would live in peace and genuine love and fellowship with the Lord and one another; that there would be restoration, healing, and wholeness wherever relationships have been injured or broken. A few weeks ago, I shared this burden with my daughters and last week, I shared it with my son. 

Boy, I hope no one reads this and thinks that my family has fallen apart and that we hate each other or that we are all at each other's throats...We aren't! Not at all! I just have a deep desire to see the love of Jesus lived out in our lives for each other...I want my family to be the living example of the scripture that says, "They will know you are Christians by your love..."

I know that I am still in that desert, on my knees, and ahead of the army as a sniper, but I am no longer alone in it. My children are praying with me...my husband is praying with me...we are praying for each other. The potential for real and significant impact starts with but goes well beyond the branches of our own little family tree. Our whole orchard or an entire forest can be changed...because we have picked up our weapons, our spoons and rifles...our hearts are united in the Lord and to each other for us, our families, and our future generations.