Aunt Story II

What a week. My mom, sisters and I have been in the "trenches" this week, praying for my aunt. We all feel so strongly that God wants a complete healing for her. My parents are in South Carolina right now visiting her, encouraging her, helping where they can and just loving on her. Just a couple of days after my last post, I had another ant encounter in the gardens.

I was meditating on the principle of intercessory prayer. I was asking God to help me bare my aunt up under me--making me weak to make her strong, giving me her fears, her concerns, her doubts, etc. I've known the concept forever, but I don't know that I've ever earnestly put it into practice. I was asking God for His favor, wisdom and understanding regarding being an intercessor. And He put another ant in my path. I noticed an ant hauling an insect on the sidewalk and I stooped down to see that it was not only another ant that he was carrying, but that the other ant was alive! If you're not an insect watcher, this is NOT common. They carry dead ants to burial, or dead insects to eat. They don't just carry fellow, alive ants around, at least in my observations.

They came to a crack too deep and too wide to cross easily and the one set down the other. The ant being carried unfolded himself, dusted himself off, gave a parting look over his shoulder to the other ant and began walking away. (I know you think I'm crazy) The reason the ant was being carried was that he was crippled in the back leg by a burden. The burden--get this--was another ant's HEAD clamped onto his leg. So they must have done battle and the attacker bit down on the victim's leg and somehow was counter attacked and decapitated. UNBELIEVEABLE.

But the important part was seeing the one ant intercessing for the other. I've never seen this in the insect world, but what a beautiful picture!! I knew that God was affirming my instinct and desire to intercede on my Aunt Bev's behalf. She has been wounded in her race, but not yet fatally. Scripture claims that life and death are in the power of the tongue. So we are praying that my aunt will choose LIFE and live every day as though God were going to heal her! We have seen some amazing miracles over the years. God is not the author of death and disease; it breaks His heart and He mourns with us. But He also invites us to pray without ceasing and see the wonders of His mighty hand. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. "By faith...Gideon, David, Samuel and the prophets...conquered kingdoms...shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames and escaped the edge of the sword, whose weakness was turned to strength, and who became powerful in battle...Women received back their dead, raised to life again." Heb. 11:32-35

Thank you for praying and be encouraged that we serve a terribly awesome God. We are so lucky to be soldiers in this battle, not against flesh, but against spiritual forces in the heavenly realms. He could've done it on His own, but knows our insatiable thirst for adventure and invites us to be a part of the most terrifying, exhausting and rewarding battle of all times.