A few times today I was reminded of the following dream which shows God’s deliverance …
3/19/2006
I was in a rather small army and we were about to be attacked by a much larger army. We were led to go into a room on an upper floor of a building. We knew the enemy would come there and that the battle would be in this room. There was a table and chairs in the room. Although I thought about turning the table on its side to use as a type of shield, it seemed other people had already started doing that. We didn’t have weapons such as guns; we were given forks. There was a closet near the door through which the enemy would enter. I took a fork and went into the closet, leaving the door partially opened.
Then the enemy started coming through the door. I reached out of the closet, grabbed an enemy soldier, and stabbed the soldier several times with my fork. When that soldier fell, I reached and grabbed another. After having done this several times, the enemy saw what I was doing and 3 of them came to kill me. It looked totally hopeless for me.
But then, suddenly, the fighting stopped. I asked others in the army I was in why the fighting stopped and was told that it was because I was being attacked. There was a rule that if a soldier was already injured, they could not be attacked. At first I wondered how this pertained to me, but then saw a small cut on my left arm. I don’t think I was even aware of this during the battle, and it certainly hadn’t stopped me from killing several of the enemy. But, evidently, this was seen as a serious offense by those in power. So the fighting had been stopped and the enemy army was held responsible for this.
I was concerned that I had stabbed each enemy soldier several times and wondered if this was going against the rules as well. However, I was told that this was ok since I stabbed the soldier multiple times in the same attack ... I hadn’t set out to attack someone who was already wounded.
As we waiting in the room, we received word that the enemy had admitted they were wrong. We thought the fighting would now resume. But as we waiting in the room for the enemy to return, we noticed through a window that the enemy troops were marching out of the city. The battle was over. I turned and told those in the room that this was God’s doing (that we weren’t destroyed by the enemy and that the battle was over), and others agreed.
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One of the things that stands out to me each time I review this dream is that we were given forks for weapons. Forks aren't weapons we would likely choose for warfare, but were quite effective here. This reminds me that God gives us weapons that are not carnal, but are mighty through Him …
2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
I recalled the time a few years ago when a young girl scolded me for not picking up after my dogs (I had forgotten to take a plastic sack). Then she and another girl came to my house and repeatedly rang the doorbell. I intended to yell at the girls, but no words came out of my mouth. Finally, words that were not at all angry came out of my mouth, explaining what had happened. I also quietly dealt with a sack the girls left on my porch. The girls walked away. The weapons God gave me in this situation … calm words of explanation and quiet dealing … were not what I planned to use, but were completely effective in handling the problem.
When reading in Psalm 18 today, verse 17 reminded me of this dream again. It looked hopeless for me when three of the enemy attacked at once. But then the fighting was stopped because I was being attacked.
PSALM 18: 17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.