Folks, I sent this on
Friday nite, but it seems like it didn't get through. It was in response to
Izzy'inquiry in particular.
Anyway to some serious stuff. Ivan was
originally due to hit Barbados
flush. THe Lord showed to my prayer partner and me during a time of prayer,
three Caribbean nations that were in serious jeopardy. They are Jamaica, Guyana
and Barbados.
This was at the end of last week (Thursday,I believe). He showed my prayer
partner that the pride of the Bajans (Barbadians) had stirred His anger (they
are actually a very proud people). Both of my parents are from Barbados, and
many of their relatives live their. One of my sisters does as well.
This revelation came to him just as the
Lord had me taking a bit of a strange turn as we were winding down a long
session of sharing around the things of God aand prayer. The Lord just put Jamaica on my
heart, and I started to prophesy over it and to take up a lamentation over it.
The Lord had me speaking that He was in sadness over Jamaica, that it was a land that He
loved and longed to draw her unto Himself. Alot of sadness was being expressed
in that prophecy, but interspersed with joy. It took me by surprise, but I
stepped out in faith and strove to flow with the Spirit. He then had me do something
similar with Guyana (the
only English-speaking Caribbean country located in South
America). This was more than a bit unusual the way it happened.
When I was done, I thought my prayer partner would have a further confirming
word on those countries, but he shared with me on what the Lord was
showing him about Barbados
when I was speaking over Jamaica.
Strange thing, this happened before this threat of Ivan materialized in the way
that it did. You can imagine how taken aback we were as the events of this week
unfolded, and finding that Jamaica,
after the initial onslaught of Ivan, was directly in the path of this fella.
Never did we realize how dramatic and imminent God's word to us was.
Usually, one puts these things some distance in the future. Through it all we
have prayed for God's mercy and fought the storm for dear life.
It still baffles me how folks can be so
apathetic about something so serious. The people of Grenada were that way because they
hadn't experienced anything like that for almost fifty years. Now Ivan has left
90% of the buildings either destroyed or badly damaged, down to the Prime
Minister's residences (official and private) and the Governor General's.
All that was left standing of the latter's is the foundation. Pride and an
haughty spirit do precede destruction.
Strange thing about Ivan.It was heading
flush for Barbados
as category 4. I insisted that I was going to pray against it. My partner was
not so convinced, since the Lord showed him the night before the storm's advent
(while we were again in prayer - Sunday ) rooftops blowing off and trees
falling. That's when I insisted It didn't matter that God's fury
was wrapped up in this (revelation that night as well) but that I was
going to pray against it. It was similar to the Frances
and Florida
situation. You all might recall that I was not getting a witness from the
Lord, when it was in the Caribbean, that Frances was going to die, but that
I insisted that I was going to push the envelope. Well I didn't tell all,
but the Lord was witnessing to me that Frances was not going to die, but
God has been known to relent on His determination to execute judgement in the
face of fervent pleas and faith. That's the zone I was aiming my faith at
then. It was the same in this present scenario.
Thank God that suddenly Ivan turned
away from Barbados.
They still got a blow with some destruction and a death, but they reported that
it was alot less than they had anticipated with the original category 4 status
and direct hit that were forcast. That was a victory of God's mercy in
judgement. Standing in the gap works.
Irony of ironies, it turned towards Trinidad and Tobago
(TnT). Well, all of my spiritual systems went into high gear. I have to
admit I was in some considerable trepidation, since the Lord was doing some
serious dealings with me at the time. I was groping for a sense of His favour
and reassurance in order to fight the faith battle. He started giving it bit by
bit, and did not allow me to eat any meals all of that Tuesday. I went through
a vast array of warfare strategies as I depended on the Lord to guide me, from
warfare praise, worship and dancing before the Lord, to repentance and asking
God to search my heart and mourning over unchristlike charasterics that I have
exhibited. This is something I am going to have to do alot more of. As Joshua
had to learn, don't go to battle with anything 'unclean' in the camp.
The result??? The landfall kept being
delayed and delayed, and the storm was downgraded to a category 2 (sounds
familiar?). It began to veer away from Tobago
after many hours... at that point I knew I/we had gotten a breakthrough. I was
encouraged and relieved. The Holy Spirit even had me at one point stamp on
Ivan's head (figuratively folks, figuratively...![]()
).
Well, to make an extremely long story
short, Tobago was also spared a direct hit,
although they had some building damage and a death. Trinidad
was totally spared any storm activity, as into the evening the warning
was lifted..
Again they started trumpetting their
accustomed refrain... God is a Trinidadian... which ired me, indeed. If they
only understood what's going on they would repent and sober up fast... Anyway,
God has a sense of humour that boggles the mind... The next night, I went into
the word, and what does the Lord hit me with???
'...why are ye fearful, how
is it that ye have no faith?' (Mk 4:40b).
I tell you... Anyway, I encourage
you all to read verses 35-41.
Again, sadly our blessing was followed
by Grenada's decimation and Jamaica's own
trepidation. As I write, they are being affected, but a downgrade has occurred.
I am believing God for more. Floridians et al pray for God's mercy and fight
off the storm. Don't be fatalistic.
I know I have been a bit long, but I
share these things in detail for the benefit of the TTers, that somehow I might
provoke you to a faith and hope where you might not have seen them before, and
to an even greater faith for those who have it in this arena.
ShieldsFamily <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
BTW, I thought about this and I want to
add that I still believe that God can be sending a message about a need to
repent from sin (individually, or statewide, or nationwide) when He allows such
devastation. Especially when there are 3 hurricanes in 3 weeks! We should
all take it to heart, and should all pray for repentance on our part and mercy
on His. Izzy
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of ShieldsFamily
Sent: Friday, September 10, 2004
6:55 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: [TruthTalk] Five
Million
Terry, You are so very right on. I
still do believe that we can pray for God’s direct intervention in His
course of Nature. Izzy
