More Breathing Trials (cont'd from Apr 8 post)

As my journey continued, inching along the wall of the great pit, suddenly, a series of popping sounds erupted off to the right again.  I knew another pipe was growing toward me and dreaded to see what form of torture it would bring.  Fear of the unknown…certainty of greater suffering…this was the sinister strategy of this place, as I had learned already, using mind games to intensify pain.  Quickly, the second pipe appeared, extending parallel to and below the first one, which was no longer growing to follow my progress along the track.  As soon as it was overhead, it could see and hear it begin to pour out its contents…

Water!  Yes, as I watched the water trickle into the labyrinth of my air supply, my new fear was that what the balls had not done to fill my lungs the water would surely do.  My tormentors were going to drown me…slowly!  This was one of those increasingly frequent occasions when I would remember my decision and commitment to continue on this journey rather than take the offer to be escorted out.  I began to have many nagging thoughts… Had I made a foolish decision?  Should I have dragged Sherril into this – and what was happening to her?  Had I been selfishly motivated to go further so I could have more to report than those who had been here before us?  Were these thoughts being put into my mind by the tempter?   I prayed in protest, “Lord, I’m trusting you to be with me through this.  I’m willing to endure the suffering if it will somehow bring you glory.”

Though I felt the water coming in, it did not stop my breathing and I survived another trial.  There were more pipes that grew from the side to terrorize me, each dumping other types of objects into my air supply, including another series of balls.  But this time the balls were larger and increasing in size.  I could plainly see that they would clog the air pathway before they even reached me.  So, I tried to breathe as slowly as I could to make the air last as long as possible.  Yet, once again I somehow passed through the test, only to face greater ones.

It was about this time that I first heard someone reading to me from the Bible and praying for me.  The voice was Sherril’s.  When I looked up I could make out a kind of still image in the darkness roughly resembling her and looking down over a wall above me.  Undoubtedly, it was an imposter’s voice as Sherril was in here going through her own trials.  At other times I heard my sons pray for me and later a friend of the family that I had not seen for a long time.  I also saw the same kinds of rough images of them.  All this, I reasoned, was intended to stir up my emotions with false hope and make a mockery of my faith.  Later, I would discover that those events actually occurred by my bedside during my darkest hours on planet earth.

The next series of tests took a totally different tack, involving the eyes.  Unlike everything else I had experienced so far, this would require my active participation.  It would also take me into deeper spiritual struggles. 

For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him  Phil. 1:29

(to be continued...)