The Night From Hell

This title might sound a little intense now but you’ll see how true it is by the end of this blog.

 

I just spent the past 10 days in Gainesville, Georgia at my training camp for the World Race. When I say God showed up, man I mean GOD. SHOWED. UP. He wrecked me and brought me so much closer to him. It was so good despite it being so hard at some points. “How was it hard?” you might ask. Well let me put it this way, for 10 days I slept in a sleeping bag on the ground with temperatures in the 30s. I set up and tore down my tent almost everyday. I had no other option for a toilet then a porta-potty. American food was rare and the portion sizes were not nearly as large as I would have picked for myself. I took only one very cold “bucket shower” the whole time I was gone. (If you don’t know what that is, consider yourself blessed. Let me just tell you, it did not get me the right kind of clean.) And one very early morning, I went on a timed,  2 mile hike with with my 36 pound pack on my back. Hopefully this gives you a glimpse into what I mean when I say it was hard, BUT like I said, God showed up! And when God is doing amazing things, Satan does everything in his power to try to stop it. This is where the night from hell comes in.

 

It was the second day of camp and they decided to do a simulation of our bags getting lost in the airport. They took half of our bags, kept them overnight, and told us we needed to share all our things with each other until they gave us the “lost bags” back. I was lucky enough to be one of the people who got to keep their bags but unfortunately my squadmate Mady wasn’t as fortunate. I told her I would share my tent, sleeping bag, and whatever else she needed until her stuff was returned to her.

 

I went to sleep that night already cold and with a tummy ache. I woke up around 1am freezing, feeling incredibly nauseous, and had one of the worst headaches of my life. After a while of trying to get back to sleep with no success, I all of the sudden started to have trouble breathing. I woke up Mady sleeping next to me and she went on a hunt to try and find our leader’s tent. By the time she came back with one of our leaders, Nick, my breathing had gotten worse and I felt like I could throw up any minute. They decided to bring me to the lodge building at camp where our emergency contact was and let me sleep inside for the night with someone who would keep a watch on me. Once I got inside, my breathing improved, and I was checked out by an EMT, they set up an air mattress in their conference room and I tried to fall back asleep. I was laying down for probably 45 minutes before I stood up and threw up all over their carpeted floor. I apologized more times than I could count and we went for a search to try to find cleaning supplies. After we got everything cleaned up it was around 4am. I tried to go back to sleep and was somewhat successful. Needless to say it was one of the longest nights of my life. It seemed to just be one thing after another.

 

I say this was the night from hell because to me, there is no other explanation for ALL this than the work of Satan. God clearly had big plans for me during training camp and Satan was not about to just sit back and let God move without trying to ruin as many of these plans as possible. But Romans 8:28 says that God works for the good of those who love Him. I saw God’s goodness in so many ways the following day.

 

First, God showed me how much he was with me that night and how he provided for me. I’m so glad I had Mady in my tent with me where I could just roll over and wake her up. It would have been so much worse for me if I had to go find someone in another tent to help me. I was also thankful I didn’t throw up in my tent. Like, holy cow, I don’t know what I would have done with a mess all over all my things and Mady. That part could have been A LOT worse.

 

Spiritual warfare is very real, and I felt it that night. But the second thing God showed me is that His power and goodness is so much bigger and stronger than anything Satan could ever throw at me! In a small group bible study that morning, we read Psalm 23:1-4. Verse 4 says that “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for my God is with me.” Wow, how true this is! Satan may try to do all sorts of things to ruin the good plans of God in my life and yours but WE DO NOT HAVE TO FEAR EVIL because GOD IS WITH US!

 

At lunch that day I couldn’t even sit with everybody because just the smell of the food made me nauseous. So I went and sat in the sun by myself. I was feeling so terrible physically but emotionally I was feeling great! God brought the song “You Never Let Go” by Matt Redman to my mind and I just sat there in the warmth of the sun singing it in my head.

 

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

Your perfect love is casting out fear

And even when I’m caught in the middle of the storms of this life

I won’t turn back

I know you are near

 

And I will fear no evil

For my God is with me

And if my God is with me

Whom then shall I fear?

Whom then shall I fear?

 

Oh no, You never let go

Through the calm and through the storm

Oh no, You never let go

In every high and every low

Oh no, You never let go

Lord, you never let go of me

 

That night of camp was honestly so terrible and the next day I still felt so sick, but I think that day of camp was one of my favorite days just because I felt the presence of God so evidently. There is real evil in this world, and I think that is obvious to anyone who looks around. But because God is always with us, we don’t have to fear those evils!