Under the Shadow of the Almighty

Something that the American church doesn’t really talk a lot about is spiritual warfare. I was aware of the topic before the Race, and reading blogs from previous racers prepared me for some of it, but I always thought that it would be more of a thing in Cambodia or Swazi. Costa Rica never struck me as somewhere that would be spiritually heavy, but here I am in Costa Rica, and spiritual warfare has quickly gone from something that used to be just a phrase to a reality more quickly than I had anticipated. 

 

Spiritual warfare can look like a lot of different things, but for our squad it has been coming in the form of a terrible nights sleep. Some of us, including myself, are having reoccurring nightmares, some are waking up in the middle of the night feeling panicky, and some of us are having trouble sleeping altogether. About three weeks into our time here in Costa Rica, all of my squadmates and I got together and talked about the spiritual warfare we had been experiencing. We turned on worship music, and everyone walked around the house at their own pace and prayed over individual rooms or people. As I was praying, I felt a spiritual heaviness over both the main living area, and the room that I share with my team. This wasn’t surprising since my team and I had all talked previously about how we all felt like the enemy was attacking us in our sleep. After about an hour, we all felt better about the situation, and we got back together in the main living room and closed the time in prayer. This was a really cool experience, and it was amazing to see so many people come together and fight a spiritual battle with and for one another. 

 

People’s sleep generally got better for a week or two, but recently the enemy has been trying to get a foothold in our minds again. The nightmares got worse for a lot of people, and I’ve had multiple squadmates share stories with me about waking up in the middle of the night feeling panicked, as if there was a demonic presence or influence in our space. Something that I felt gave me some insight into the situation was a few weeks ago during night ministry, a woman that I was talking to explained to me that October and November are very spiritually dark months in Costa Rica because a lot of people here practice witchcraft, and with Halloween being close, the number of people practicing or performing rituals goes up. In Latin America, Halloween is very different than in the States. Christians here don’t celebrate Halloween, and they see it as something of the devil rather than a holiday where people dress up and eat candy. Once I had this knowledge, I was able to share it with my squad so that we could all be praying against the increased spiritual darkness together. 

 

Once a week, my team has scheduled ATL time, which stands for Ask the Lord. Usually this looks like getting together and praying about where God wants us to go, who He wants us to talk to, and what He wants us to say. This almost always ends with my team leaving the base and going out to different places in the community. Last week for ATL, our Alumni Team Leader, Hannah, asked us to be praying about what the Lord was asking us to do during our ATL time. Both my teammate Louisa and I felt like we needed to stay at the base and spend time in intentional prayer over the different rooms in response to the spiritual warfare that our squad was experiencing. When some of the other girls on our squad heard that this was our plan, they asked us to take it one step further and pray over individual beds as well. My team and I turned on a speaker, and while worship music filtered through the house, we all spent time walking from room to room and bed to bed, praying for protection over our minds, and against attacks from the enemy in the name of Jesus. As I prayed, I brought my Bible with me, and tried to pray a different Psalm over ever single person. I prayed over every doorway, that God would send his angels to guard against attacks from the enemy, and that in the name of Jesus, Satan and the fear that he brings have no place in our home. As I prayed these things, I felt such an incredible sense of peace wash over me. In particular, Psalm 91 (NKJV) spoke so strongly to me: 

 

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust.”

3 

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler

And from the perilous pestilence.

4 

He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

5 

You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

6 

Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,

Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

7 

A thousand may fall at your side,

And ten thousand at your right hand;

But it shall not come near you.

8 

Only with your eyes shall you look,

And see the reward of the wicked.

9 

Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,

Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

10 

No evil shall befall you,

Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

11 

For He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you in all of your ways.

 

The promise that God gives us angels to watch over us, and that He promises protection over our dwelling place, is such a special thing. Although the bad dreams haven’t completely gone away since then, it was such an honor to come together with my sisters and take our problems, lay them at the feet of Jesus, and fully trust that He would take care of us. I believe that the reason that spiritual warfare has been such a battle for my squad is because the enemy sees us doing good things here for the Kingdom, and he is honestly scared of the work that we are inviting God to do through all of us. Women from the streets are experiencing the love of Jesus through our actions. We are building meaningful relationships with the people in our community and at our ministries. Just the other week, our men’s team lead two people to the Lord. So while no one wants to have restless sleep or bad dreams, looking at this situation from this perspective has been encouraging for me. I believe that the enemy attacks hardest when we are allowing God to work through us the most. Where there is struggle, there are also seeds being planted, watered, and fruit being brought forth. 

 

If you’ve made it to the end of this, thank you. While we have experienced some hard things, my squad and I are intentional about not letting these things overshadow what we do, how we live our lives, or take away our joy. We know that we have authority over the powers of darkness in the name of Jesus, and we are learning to walk well in that authority. With that being said, I would appreciate it so much if everyone reading this would make it a habit to lift up my squad in prayer, and to ask for protection, as well as for peaceful rest. 

 

Until next time! 

 

-Nicole