Spiritual Warfare

Greetings,Fellow Christians! How great it is to have a place to chat with others who are living in the Lord! I am still what I would consider a "NEW" Christian,having come to the Lord only about 4 years ago. I am now married to a Christian farmer and belong to a very small,rural Baptist Church. My husband,Bob,and I are both new members of the church board. The January election of officers placed all new people in all the open positions,and I feel this was on purpose. This is a 200 year-old church,and has always been a spiritual battleground.
When we joined a year ago, I was instantly aware of the tension and lack of joy in the church and among the flock. There was such a feeling of guilt and secretiveness that I could almost touch it. I learned that the attendance in the past two years had dropped from about 50 to barely 20.Everyone seemed to have an issue with everyone else,no one agreed on anything,the pastor was loved by some and despised by others. The financial records showed impropriety,the library and historical records were tossed about the building and neglected,as were the building and grounds. There was no joy,no unity,no warmth.
The entire community where this church is situated is that way. With a population of some 400 souls,99 of those are convicted felons! This,in a picturesque,historical,little farming town! Divorce,adultery,abuse,addiction,homosexuality,theft,all run rampant there. Children run free,neighbor fights with neighbor,and gossip is a plague.I understand it has always been this way. There is a wise,elderly man there,who once said,"The devil lives in the ground here.". This is the truth.
Then,in January of this year,the Lord said,enough is enough! Six people were struck,HARD,by the Lords' Will,and assigned the task of working together to save this church and community. Every single one of us has a testimony to the minute we were chosen for this job. There was NO room for question or doubt,the message was VERY clear. So here we are,fighting for this town and this church,taking it back from satan and returning it to God. It is a very difficult assignment. Then,shortly after we began this work,the pastor tendered his resignation,with no forewarning.Just an unexpected announcement from the pulpit one Sunday morning. He could no longer abide the deep sadness he had felt since coming here 3 years ago. Even he,could not summon up the fight,at age 75,to continue the battle. So now,we are in the midst of a pastor search as well as the rescue of the church itself. Which means,we are fighting without an earthly shepherd.
Fortunately,we are a strong board,and a united board,and God is leading. We spend a LOT of time together and do a LOT of praying. We have a vision and we are determined. The other day,I received an email from one of the pastors we are considering to fill our pulpit. Out of the blue,he emailed and asked me if there was a lot of unrest and trouble in our church,and why was our pastor leaving? He said he could feel that we are being attacked,and that we should be very vigilant,as satan is not going to give up easily. He told me to be sure that the board members STAY united,no matter what. Repair even the slightest misunderstandings among us,immediately.Let nothing tear us apart.
I was astounded! How could this man I had never met,who lived many,many miles away,KNOW this? As I related his words to the rest of the board last night,it came to light that each of us was indeed,under attack. One woman has been seriously ill,fighting to get out of bed each day,and had kept it to herself. Doctors found no physical cause for her symptoms.Her mother,a very spiritual woman,felt her suffering,and spent an entire night in prayer for her daughter. The next day,the pain and exhaustion disappeared,and she was well.
Another woman has had flu symptoms for weeks,trouble sleeping,and her husband was suffering nosebleeds. She never considered what the true cause might be until last night. Now,she knows. As for ME,I am one of those,"Tough it out" people,never let 'em see you cry,never show weakness. Yet,three times in the past two weeks,I have sat down at my computer to look at pastor resumes,and broken down into sobs,with no warning and no apparent reason. It was like a lightning strike,sudden and jolting. It frightened me! Now,I understand. My husband and I have both been fighting severe exhaustion as well. Two of our oldest members,both in age and length of membership,are also under attack. One woman in particular,is 87 years old,VERY spiritual and wise,and vital to the board,even though she is not a member of it. We look to her for wisdom and advice. Her health is pretty good for her age and her mind is as sharp as a tack.
Twice in the past week,she has been struck down and taken to the hospital. The first time,she was on the floor of her home for 12 hours before being discovered. The second time,just yesterday,she suffered a mild stroke,and is hospitalized indefinitely.She is being taken out of the fight! The other lady,82 years old,is being plagued with breathing difficulties and weakness.(She is the one who prayed all night for her daughter.) She is fighting through,making it to service even if she has to lie down for the rest of the day! Bless her!
So,as you can see,we are in a tough struggle right now,and need all the prayers from other Christians we can get! You know,it's such a funny thing,but I was raised an atheist,and if I had heard someone tell this story back then,I would have laughed at them and called them crazy. Attacked by the devil,yeah,sure. Yet,here I am and here it is.There is absolutely NO doubt as to what is happening and what must be done.NONE. Please keep us in prayer that we may stand strong under this assault,that we may find the pastor the Lord wants us to have,and unite this church to go forward and reap souls for the Lord! Thank you,and God Bless You All! JJ