Written
By: Kirk Peterson
It was time to test our old tent out for some camping fun with
the boys. Heidi and I hadn’t used the
tent from before when our 6 year old son Brody was born. I asked my wife Heidi where the camping gear
was because I couldn’t find it, and as usual it was in the most obvious place
possible… “Here it is sweetie,” she said with a smile.
The boys were busy playing as I happily set about getting
the tent set up in our backyard. Both
boys were very excited to camp in the backyard together, eating snacks before
bedtime and possibly even s’mores from the fire. It all sounded like a mighty
fine adventure to them and for us parents too!!!
We had checked the forecast and saw only a small chance of
rain. I wanted to include the boys, so I asked them to help me set up the tent and
they did a great job of it. Heidi came
in to help me finish, but the boys were very willing to help in any way they
could. As we were unpacking everything,
Heidi and I reminisced as we discovered the camping gear still had soot from
campfires long gone. It was crazy, the
gear even had a slight hint of campfire smell to them after all these years… “Can you believe this still has soot from the
last time we camped babe? How long has
it been, 8 maybe 10 years? Do you
remember the last time we used this tent, man those were some good times eh?” I
asked.
For once the boys were more than willing to go to bed. They hurried into the tent and dove under
their sleeping bags excited to camp for the very first time. “So boys, we wanted to test out the tent tonight
to make sure it doesn’t leak and to make sure it will work for our camping trip
in a few weeks. We will get to go fishing, hiking, exploring and just take all
of the nature in. At night, you will get
to see stars in the night sky like you have never seen and hopefully get a small taste of some of God’s glory,” I told them.
After the boys got their snacks they had been dreaming of,
we took them inside to brush and floss their teeth. We came back out to finish our evening
routine of songs and prayers and with everybody all snuggled in we slowly fell asleep.
That is when the most supernatural experience I have ever had
in my life came to me.
I woke up in the middle of the night and was completely paralyzed. I
was wide awake but I couldn’t move anything on my whole body. My strength was
gone and I was not even able to open my eyes. I heard audible sounds coming
from outside the tent and my mind raced as I heard what sounded like 4-5 people
outside. A strong fear was present
I became very aware of a constant sound in my mind. It sounded just like two iron swords clashing
together over and over with almost no space between the clashing. Also, there
was a lower pitch sound…something like a sharpening stone used to sharpen
blades that continued throughout the hyper clashing of iron.
I prayed to God. Was this the enemy I thought? I cried out
to the Lord for help, I asked Him to send His angels down from heaven to
protect my family. I prayed for God to
take me instead of them, if He would only just keep them safe…Then, as if God
answered me, I was suddenly able to move. The noises outside disappeared but
the wind continued to blow.
I sat awake trying to process all that happened. After a couple of minutes I woke my wife
Heidi up and told her what happened.
A couple of days after, I wanted to pray about what happened. I wanted to see if God had anything to tell
me. I tried to get quiet and listen. My impressions were simply this: that it was
indeed supernatural what happened to me and that I should trust my initial
instincts during the experience. Because
of the sound in my mind, I immediately thought of God’s angels wearing armor
and swords. I asked some of my friends
and family about what happened too, but I do not think it was the enemy.
One of my family members told me to read Daniel 10, here is
some of what the chapter says:
1In
the third year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, Daniel (also known as
Belteshazzar) had another vision. He understood that the vision concerned
events certain to happen in the future—times of war and great hardship. 2When
this vision came to me, I, Daniel, had been in mourning for three whole weeks. 3All
that time I had eaten no rich food. No meat or wine crossed my lips, and I used
no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed. 4On April 23, as
I was standing on the bank of the great Tigris River, 5I looked up and saw
a man dressed in linen clothing, with a belt of pure gold around his waist. 6His
body looked like a precious gem. His face flashed like lightning, and his eyes
flamed like torches. His arms and feet shone like polished bronze, and his
voice roared like a vast multitude of people. 7Only I, Daniel, saw this vision.
The men with me saw nothing, but they were suddenly terrified and ran away to
hide. 8So I was left there all alone to see this amazing vision. My
strength left me, my face grew deathly pale, and I felt very weak. 9Then I
heard the man speak, and when I heard the sound of his voice, I fainted and lay
there with my face to the ground. (Daniel 10:1-9 NLT)
For now, the rest of the experience is a mystery. I believe God uses experiences to strengthen
our faith. Shortly after this, I felt as close to God as I have in a long time.
If I could share anything about that with you now it would be simply this: Pray.
Pray and speak to God as if he was a close friend, for our God in heaven
already knows our heart.
Come back to Jesus my friends!
See
Francesca Battistelli’s “Holy Spirt” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS5S8Unvm48
