.The Battle Surrendered - Part Eight.

The Battle Surrendered

Part Eight

Storyteller SilverLoom

     This was a battle I could never win.

     With the last strength I had, I made my choice. Covering my eyes with my hands, I cried, “Jesus, help me! I can’t do it without You!”

     Not even one second passed before He came. I sensed Him standing in front of me, and I looked into His face. The creatures were behind Him, but they were no longer docile. Furious at His interference, they launched themselves onto His back, trying to tear at Him with their nails and teeth. He remained unscathed by their livid strikes and ignored them completely.

     The shadow creature’s false light still shown, but my mind was clear. Though their deceptive fingers had released me to attack Jesus, I was too shocked to stand.  

     Jesus simply stood, watching me with a smile tugging at the corner of His mouth. I noticed His strong sword still hung in its sheath at His side.

     He saw my glance and shook His head. “You still don’t understand. Dear heart, they have already been defeated.” He reached down toward me, the scars made by the cross clearly visible. Grasping my hands in both of His, He pulled me to my feet. “You cannot defeat them. You cannot even resist them, except through Me. Use My strength; don’t depend on yours. I am faithful. I will provide a way out so that you can stand up under them.”

     It was so easy, and yet so difficult. I suddenly felt like I wanted to cry, now that I was beginning to understand. “So,” I asked past the lump in my throat, “all I have to do is…?”

     “Hold on to Me.”

     Gripping His hands tighter, I said, “Ok. I trust You.”

     The smile that burst upon His face was the grandest I had ever seen.

     Soon after, some of the shadow creatures tried to bring me back under their power. They whispered in my ears and pulled at my arms, but I kept a firm clasp on Jesus’s hands and never looked away from His face. It was almost funny, actually; what chance did the shadow creatures think they had while I was holding onto my Savior?

     Eventually, the shadow creatures tired of their fruitless efforts. Their light faded, and their masks of white skin disappeared with it. They slid, one by one, into the forest.

     “We’ve arrived,” said Jesus. He turned me around.

     Between two trees, like two door posts, I could see my bedroom.

     “I’ll always be with you. Always use My strength. Don’t forget.”

     “I won’t.” I spun back and threw my arms around Him. “I love You.”

     “I love you so much, dear heart.”

     I didn’t let go.

     After a minute, He laughed. “Go on. You know this won’t be the last time you see Me!”

     I nodded and pulled away. “I know. Ok. Bye.”

     “Bye? Didn’t I just say I will always be with you?”

     “Oh, yeah.” I laughed along with Him and walked toward my bedroom.

     Though I was coming out of late afternoon, the first rays of dawn greeted me through the windows of my bedroom, chasing away the night’s darkness.

"Our temptation is to face adversaries from the standpoint of our own common sense. But a saint can “be of good cheer” [John 16:33] even when seemingly defeated by adversaries, because victory is absurdly impossible to everyone, except God."

-Oswald Chambers, “My Utmost for His Highest”

~The End~