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Just Outside The Gates of Hell

by Deborah Rampona Oliver  
10/27/2014 / Devotionals

There are a lot of hellish events occurring in these very troubled times. On the world 'stage,'we are witnessing a massive outbreak of ebola which I believe may prove to be this century's bubonic plague. It does not select it's victims on the basis of a life well lived or on how 'good' a person has been. It is not a Santa-like disease that picks only the naughty, it does not discern between innocence and evil. It mindlessly attacks and kills in the most horrible way possible. Power struggles in the Middle East are especially brutal with triumphant, evil infused 'sheeple' handing severed heads for their little boys to hold aloft in victory. Christians and Muslims who refuse to bend are under siege and there is no where safe for these families and communities.

On a larger but less obvious scale, we have lost our moral compass. Right is wrong and wrong is now sanctimoniously heralded as right. Societies are crumbling from within. Families are broken and so are people. There seems to be very little help for this as we search for the next Dr. Phil or Dr. Oz or Oprah to sell us what we desperately want to hear so that we can fix ourselves.

We are all the product of something and we each lug around our own emotional baggage. In all seriousness, I have an impressive amount of luggage. Sadly, it's not Louis Vuitton or Coach either, but who am I to complain? At any rate, last week was particularly difficult for me. I found that my will (which is typically indomitable) was insufficient to quiet all of the emotional storms I was experiencing. I was frustrated with myself for not being able to 'make it stop' and I spent a good 72 hours in constant prayer. God tells us not to fear constantly throughout scripture! So there I was arguing with God, which is at least a dialogue with Him, right? "God, if you tell me not to fear, then why am I fearful? I believe in you! I believe that you have not changed and will not change. Why won't my fears evaporate in the face of what I believe about you?"

It was one of the most miserable experiences of my life. I literally was in that place referenced in Psalm 46:10, "Be Still and Know That I Am God!" "Yes God, I know you are God. It's the 'being still' part that I have such a problem with." But I had no other choice. Maybe you are like me and you like to stay as busy as possible to elude all of the unpleasant things that seep into your mind if you hold still long enough. I prayed and prayed! I had my friends and family pray for me too. And I asked the Holy Spirit to intercede for me on my behalf.

At the end of the whole experience, which I am convinced was spiritual warfare to a degree that I have NEVER experienced, I had a picture in my mind of little me standing outside the vast, dark dates of hell. Black and grey objects were hurling out at me with hurricane like speed, pelting me with a tremendous amount of force. It literally made me cry because I felt so very alone. And then my Father spoke to me and the only reason I could hear him is because I was still. (Go figure!) "Deborah, if that is what it feels to be outside the gates of hell, can you just imagine how warm, beautiful, and joyful it will be to stand outside the gates of heaven and be welcomed in?" And then I cried again, because God cares enough to make a home just for us and he wants to welcome us into his city.

Romans 8:31What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us allhow will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who diedmore than that, who was raised to lifeis at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? (V36 skipped)
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,k neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Deborah is a military wife and mother of two children. It is her goal to approach moral ambivalence armed with strong opinions rooted in scripture (lively debate encouraged) and with an open, kind heart. She desires to engage both seekers and believers alike that Christ may be glorified.

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