Chased by a Bear

I had this dream in the early morning hours. I was in a forest, by myself, trying to find stillness to hear the Lord speak. The next part I remember is walking back on a narrow path, kind of like a ditch with a mud wall on one side, forest on the other, trees everywhere, fog and the sun was almost set. As I am walking back I see a bear in the tree above me, I start walking faster and wonder if it noticed me. I look back and see that it is following me, I start sprinting as fast as I can as the bear picks up its pace. The bear wasn’t an ordinary bear; it was like one that you would see on a scary move with extra large pointy teeth and human like movements as it chased after me. In the dream I remember not having any fear, but I knew that if I didn’t start moving faster I was in big trouble, so I ran, trusting the Lord, If I died then it was the Lord’s plan, if I lived, it was the Lords plan, I knew that He, the Lord, was there with me.

When the bear almost reached me it took a huge leap at me, then I heard a still small voice say “duck”, so I crunched up into a little ball, which just so happened to be at the bottom of a slight slope, and the bear flew right over top of me. I stayed low and the confused bear looked around, could not see me and then took off over the mud wall. I was safe; I thanked the Lord and continued on my way home.

I woke up calm, but then realized that the dream was a little out of the ordinary, I haven’t been in any forests lately, I certainly haven’t been thinking about bears, and I don’t watch scary movies, so I asked the Lord, what does this mean?

I got to thinking about something one of the speakers said in the School of Circuit Riders, we were talking about Daniel in the book of Daniel and he said “satan has a lion’s den for every prophetic intercessor”. This really stuck with me after the school and I felt that I needed to learn to better guard the gifts God has given me. Satan worked extra hard on me in Haiti and I allowed him to steal the gifts of the Lord from me. Honestly, none of that mattered because I was not only restored the things stolen to me, but I also came out of the battle much stronger, built with much more character and a deeper relationship with the Lord. I never can find the words to describe how absolutely amazing our God is and growing in relationship with Him is above all the most important and satisfying thing on this earth.

Upon arriving home I felt the Lord calling me to do a 40 day Daniel Fast, so for that time period eating only things that came from a seed, so things like fruits, vegetables, grains and lentils. The grace of the Lord was upon me as I spent much time in prayer seeking wisdom and understanding. During this time I did experience very real attacks of the enemy and I truly learnt the power of the name of JESUS. I also began learning the gates that were open in my life at home that was allowing the enemy in, so I worked in prayer with Lord at cleaning out house, and putting guards up. Along with the name of Jesus, I learnt another depth to the power of fellowship and how isolation is such an easy tactic of the enemy, I know that if I am not in one way or another connecting with my brothers and sisters in Christ on a regular bases I quickly begin to get swallowed up in darkness.

One of the greatest challenges for me was fully admitting that as Christians, we are in a battle, we have a real enemy and a real God. Our God always wins and by the blood of Jesus and the Spirit that lives in us, we can persevere through anything. I had to learn to stop shrinking away from the enemy thinking if I back away he’ll just leave me alone, that’s exactly what he wants us to think, but really he’ll just trample us with no mercy. Now I take up the Armour of God and I say, I know who my God is, I know that Jesus Christ has authority over everything in heaven and earth, and that one day He will come again for His Bride. I live daily to keep the oil in my lamp burning and to become more like Jesus.

Thinking back to the dream, it is a clear picture to me of the battle we face, the enemy is on our tail, and yes for now we must stand strong in our faith, until Jesus returns, but as sheep who know the voice of the Lord, when the time comes to make a move we can be sure that the Lord is there to tell us exactly what to do. Getting to know the Lord more through scripture, worship and fellowship is so powerful. Knowing who God is completely removes any fear! What a privilege to be able to co-labor with the God of the universe until Jesus returns! We are so blessed, keeping the first commandment, falling in love with Jesus, is fighting a battle! I love it! God is so good and so worthy of all our praise!

May God Bless you and keep you in the light of His presence and comfort. May He reveal to you the power of His majesty and the Love of Jesus Christ.

All Glory and honor and praise to the Lord our God in heaven.

Love
Alicia