City Appointed_Winning a City for God Read online

  After some time Samantha spoke, “I don’t want to leave the safety of our hiding place, but we are going to have to take the chance so that we can complete our mission.”

  “What about you Trinity, can you walk?” asked Layla.

  “Pray for me. Come on – let’s use our faith!” said Trinity, her face still showing signs of discomfort.

  “Yeah,” said Layla, “Let’s do it!”

  “I’ve got this one,” said Samantha. She placed her hands on Trinity’s foot and prayed, “I declare healing over Trinity’s ankle in Jesus name. I pray that you would fix her. Remove all pain and help her to walk again.”

  Layla also reached out her hand and prayed, “Yes Lord, your Word says that you have taken our sicknesses and infirmities upon yourself and so we claim it healed in Jesus name!”

  Trinity got up and tested it.

  “It’s a bit stiff, but not as painful. I’m going to claim my healing anyway and walk it off. Let’s go.”

  17.

  Grace Falls

  (Mission Girls)

  Layla, Samantha, and Trinity reached the base of Grace Falls and rested on a rocky outcrop beside the river. It was concealed on three sides by bushes and trees but gave them an excellent view of the falls. Trinity and Samantha who had grown up in the area knew this part of the Park intimately. They had both spent sunny weekends and holidays swimming in the river and had gone to outdoor concerts during the festival months.

  Layla had visited the park a couple of times and had walked the path to the top of the falls that took an hour at a comfortable pace. However, she had never seen the falls from the perspective of the spirit and was amazed by what she saw. The spiritual form of the falls was spectacular, as it should be, for it cradled the throne of the city. There were spires and turrets and all kinds of palatial structures that layered up the cliff face either side the falls. The citadel that surrounded the falls was high and lofty. It was unmistakably the place from where the city was ruled.

  “Isn’t it absolutely beautiful,” exclaimed Layla.

  “Wow, the colours are dazzling,” said Trinity in wonder, thankful to have something to take her mind off the throbbing of her ankle. “Such a contrast to the darkened landscape that we have been traveling through so far.”

  “I know. I’m never going to look at these falls the same way again once we are back on the surface.” Samantha added, “I only hope that we can secure the throne so that the enemy can’t claim this place as theirs. But when we are back, wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to see all of this the way we see it now.”

  “Yeah,” agreed Layla, “I hope we will be able to see everything in the spirit once we are back. I would hate to return being unable to discern all of this.” Then lost in thought, she added, “How amazing are the spiritual influences that constantly ebb and flow around us every day.”

  Trinity spoke again, “I don’t think that God would call us here as a one-off event and then just leave us as we were. Perhaps his plans for us may be even bigger than our current assignment, as necessary as this one may be.” The girls nodded in agreement as they continued scanning their surroundings.

  The spiritual activity around the falls was much more intense than they had seen anywhere else so far. Both angels and demons were on assignment. Some flying up through the falls and others walking into the palace. Each seemed to be about the business of their individual tasks. Small groups of demons walked together, keeping their distance from the angels who would breeze past. Angels would walk or fly in ones or twos, engaging each other, but practically ignoring the demons.

  After some time Samantha said what they had all been thinking, “So, how are we going to get to the throne ladies?!”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” said Trinity, “I thought you were going to go out there and use your wit and charm on one of those angels, and get him to fly you up.”

  Samantha looked back at Trinity with eyebrows raised accompanied with a smile, without the need to respond verbally.

  Trinity shrugged, “I’m just saying that I’m sure that the angels will help us if we can get their attention. We will need a guide anyway so that we don’t waste our time going in the wrong direction. It looks like there is a lot of ‘palace’ to navigate.”

  “That’s a good point,” said Samantha “I think we need some help, even if it is only to create a diversion so that we can get into the palace for a start.”

  “So the question is,” said Layla thoughtfully, “How do we engage an angel? The other question would be, is it possible to engage them from a distance? I don’t know much about angels, but I do know that what we believe either permits or hinders God’s plans for us. Our belief in what the Bible says activates the spirit realm, and I’m sure that without the faith of people, we limit angels in the ways that they can help us. It is faith that determines the relationship between them and us.”

  “So anyway, that said,” she continued, “I’m going to try something…”

  Layla stepped out further onto the rocky outcrop and spotted two angels walking together who were still some distance away from the entrance of the palace. She started to pray. ‘Lord, I pray that you would tap those angels on the shoulder and get them to come over here.’ As she directed her thoughts towards them, one of the angels looked up and glanced around, drawing the others attention. They both stood still and looked out across the water in a way that someone would look if a stone had been thrown and had struck them on the back. Even though they were some distance from the falls themselves, Layla could see the surprised expression on the angel’s faces. As the angels continued to scan the waters, one caught sight of Layla, a lone female figure standing motionless under the trees on the rocky outcrop across the water. Exposed in full sight, she suddenly felt vulnerable and at the mercy of what would happen next. ‘Is this a good idea or not?’ The angel who had spotted Layla discreetly pointed her out to the other, trying not to draw attention to themselves or alert those around them. The first of the two angels motioned to a third nearby and then the three of them quickly walked off the platform they were on and disappeared out of view. Layla immediately turned and hurried back in to hiding with an excited smile on her face.

  “Now we wait,” said Layla

  “You go girl!” said Samantha, “Nice work!”

  The girls sat on the ground, out of view and waited. They heard lightning strike in the distance. Trinity had drawn her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them she, rested her chin on one knee looking at the other two girls. Samantha started to draw shapes on the ground beside her as she waited. Layla stared out across the river, looking at nothing in particular, but listening to the waters as they flowed past. They waited for a few minutes saying nothing.

  Suddenly Layla jerked her head up. “I hear someone approaching,” she whispered.

  Within moments a figure appeared and glanced at the girls. Seeming satisfied, he motioned to the other two angels. The girls immediately stood together apprehensively as three magnificent angels appeared towering over them. Layla was acutely aware that she and her friends were not of this world and almost felt that they were trespassing on foreign soil.

  “Don’t be afraid. We are here to help you. We had word that you would be coming,” said one, “We will help you to get to the throne. My name is Shar, this is Seraph, and this here is Trillion.”

  Their friendly introduction broke the ice and alleviated her stress as Layla breathed out a sigh of relief.

  “My name is Layla, this is Trinity and Samantha.”

  There wasn’t much else to say. A regular surface greeting didn’t seem appropriate. To ask how the angel’s day was going, seemed a bit weird, so she just got to the point, “We will need to get past this crowd undetected.”

  “We can cloak you for short periods of time,” said Shar, “In preparation for your arrival we figured out the best route to the throne. There will be places we can rest out of view, but you must be confident and full of faith for our
cloaking to work.”

  The three girls each paired up with an angel. As Layla stood next to Trillion, she reminded herself of the fact that not so long ago she was sitting in her lounge room catching up on her devotional readings, or ‘Devo’s’ as she would sometimes call them. Now she was standing next to an angel, about to walk into a spiritual palace, populated by angels and demons, and ready to do battle if required. ‘I would never have imagined that my day would turn out like this! Whoever said Christianity was boring?!’ she thought to herself.

  18.

  Revisited

  (Mission Liberty)

  Liberty pushed herself as hard as she could. She sprinted away from the dragon and the demons that were in pursuit. The direction that the Holy Spirit had given her allowed her to focus on a destination. But the café was a long way off, and chances of outrunning her pursuers seemed slim. She didn’t know what she would find at the café to help, but she had no other options.

  On-surface Bethany was engrossed in watching a movie at home. Liberty was in danger and needed her friend to pray. The Holy Spirit prompted Bethany in his usual way, with a thought. Bethany frowned and continued watching the movie. The dragon rapidly approached Liberty. The gap was closing. Bethany brushed the thought away again as she sat in her comfortable armchair with the footrest up, enjoying her moment of solitude having spent the whole day with friends and family. Because the thought of Liberty continued to press her, she made a decision to include Liberty in her prayers just before she went to bed. This decision caused the prompting to drift away and give her peace. It wasn’t so much that Bethany was directly disobeying the Holy Spirit, rather she didn’t understand that some things required an immediate response. Time was running out, only moments left. If surface help did not come, Liberty would be wrenched out of the vision, have her body thrown onto the floor at home, and the mission would fail. The Holy Spirit called on Sarah, but Sarah had not yet trained herself to heed the Spirit’s leading. The thought of Liberty drifted through her mind, but so did the thought of church the next day, seeing her friends and the horrible prospect of babysitting those troublesome twins next week.

  Mr. Hoffman, the teacher who would let the girls have their Christian meeting in his classroom, was also watching TV that night and Liberty’s name filled his thoughts. He immediately rose from his chair, turned to his wife and said, “Cup of tea love?”

  “Sure,” she responded, and Mr. Hoffman wandered into the kitchen. Liberty’s name seemed to shout loudly at him as he turned on the jug and got two cups from the cupboard.

  “Lord I pray that you would strengthen Liberty, protect her, keep her safe and give her wisdom and insight into whatever situation she finds herself in.” Those words were the immediate response that was needed. No sooner had the words left Mr. Hoffman’s mouth, the power of them surged like an electric charge through Liberty’s mind.

  Liberty looked along the road to what lay ahead. As she did, everything in her immediate vicinity began to shift around her, and she found herself running through an optical tunnel with a crystal clear focal point at the far end. The scene formed in her mind like jigsaw pieces being drawn together into a three-dimensional model of her surroundings. She could suddenly see in front of her, to the side and behind her all at the same time as she continued to sprint toward her destination. Her legs were running automatically, moving as fast as they could. While she was running, her spirit was gathering the information from all around, forming a picture in her mind of who was chasing her and how close they were. She noticed small details. The demons were closing in. Information continued to be absorbed, ‘Building, door, rubbish bin, drain, lamp-post, parked car, another demon off to her right turned and joined the chase. ‘There... train track... train... train approaching... can shoot the gap.’

  Liberty adjusted her course and ran towards the track. If she could get there fast enough, she could clear the front of the train before it passed. She put her life into her hands and sped toward the train as it came hurtling towards her. With all the energy she had, she dived for the gap, hands out directly in front of her. Time slowed, and she seemed to glide over an unnatural distance as the tracks passed below her. The train almost brushed her boots as it shot past. She landed safely on the opposite side in a roll to break her fall. The tumble on the ground took her back to her feet, and she continued to race. The demons were slowed down by the train which put more distance between herself and them. The dragon raged behind her. It swooped and drove its claws into the train, picking it up and flinging it across the street and into a row of shops on the other side of the square. Glass, chairs and window frames exploded onto the road.

  The result of the derailment of the train and the carnage of its wake was manifested on the surface. Passengers on the surface felt the train jolt as the demon plunged its claws in to it. Though it was hurled away in the spirit, it remained on the tracks on the surface. Passengers saw nothing of the dragon, but the lurch caused a man, wearing a heavy brown jacket, to hit his head on the tubular steel bar that acted as a handhold for standing passengers. He spun his head around in anger to see if anyone had seen the incident. Three or four pairs of eyes glanced up.

  “What are you all looking at?!” he shouted at the boy who was closest to him. More worried expressions turned to look. His knuckles turned white as he continued to tightly grip the handrail. His cheeks flushed under his long matted hair and he felt heat rise up from under his clothing. He spun around and pulled down the emergency brake and the train screeched to a halt. He forced the doors open and jumped out of the train. Tripping over, he sprawled on to the pavement. Patrons of the café looked in amazement as the train slid and shuddered along the tracks to a standstill. The man clumsily picked himself up, yelled some kind of unintelligible cry and ran off, pushing a couple out of the way who were about to enter a nearby shop.

  While in the spirit realm, Liberty was unaware of how the pursuit was effecting the surface. Still on the run, Liberty felt that she could make it to the open doors of the café, but the glass frontage wasn’t going to provide much protection from her pursuers. Surely the café wasn’t her haven of refuge. She looked, ... tables... chairs... service door... no padlock... its open!’ As she neared the café, the service door to the side of the café appeared to be ajar.

  ‘Glad it’s not locked!’ she thought. Feeling exhausted she made the last dash straight for the door. Grasping the handle, she flung it open and burst through. As the door swung open to its fullest extent, it then ricocheted back again and slammed shut. With the horde only seconds away, she noticed a lever to lock the door from the inside and slammed it down. ‘Can demons transport themselves through walls and doors in this realm?’ She stepped backward, eyes focused intently on the door. She drew out her sword and held it tightly in both hands with the tip extended out in front of her towards the door. The horde on the other side started to bang and claw on the door. That settled it in her mind, doors and walls set confines for them here just like they set boundaries for people on the surface. Liberty breathed in deeply and let out a sigh of relief. She backed away from the door, turned and quickly stepped down the flight of stairs before her.

  Liberty felt safer now that she was underground. ‘Surely that dragon can’t follow me down here,’ she thought. She was still breathing hard and fighting back the tears.

  As she walked, she realized that she had the ability to see in the dark. Another reason to be thankful. She couldn’t pinpoint any particular light source, but she could still pick out details around her.

  There were all kinds of electrical boxes and valves to gas mains and sewage pipes lining the walls. Liberty’s locator directed her to the right, but she could see no opening to the right. The corridor continued straight ahead for about twenty metres, then turned left. She continued to follow the corridor for a few minutes, then it opened out into a huge shaft. The shaft dropped away about three stories to a watery vault below, and a wire bridge hung, suspended across the expanse in
front of her. The bridge connected the platform that she was standing on to the network of tunnels on the other side. She stepped out onto the suspension bridge.

  Liberty walked carefully along the wire bridge, now quite disorientated as to where she was in relation to the surface because she was being directed away from where she wanted to go. She continued, hoping that she would soon be able to head in the direction that her locator was indicating.

  Liberty got to the other side of the bridge and continued along one of the tunnels. A few metres in, she noticed a storm water drain off to her right. ‘Wonder how far down it goes?’ she thought, ‘I don’t want to go down too deep into the earth in case I can’t get back up again, but it’s leading in the right direction.’ It was the more risky option, looking down into a tunnel with the end shrouded from view, but there was no point walking any further away from where she wanted to go. ‘Lord, do I go?’ No response. She opted to explore it and slid down the drain, landing with a splash to a lower level beneath the city. The large pillars that were part of the foundations of the city towered above her. Her eyes were drawn upwards to where they branched off at the top, creating interlocking patterns on the ceiling. Ribbons of light were dancing over the patterns on the stonework above her head, created by the ripples of the water below. The movement of the reflections seemed to bring to life the protrusions and recesses.