The next morning I awoke after having a dream with a much
different ending. I dreamt that I looked out into our backyard to see our cats
frozen and huddled in a group in the grass, and one of them was in the mouth of
a small bear! I called for my husband and rushed out to rescue her. That
startled the bear who dropped her, but it decided I was no threat and proceeded
to return to its mission. I also noticed a badger had our older cat. I grabbed
the badger by the neck and tossed it in the air. But, when it came down, I
could see that I’d only enraged it! The look in its eyes! What to do???
So, the next thing I knew I had picked up a porcupine and
aimed its quills at the critter. That seemed to be the turning point. I soon
saw the badger, bear AND cougar (where had it come from?) on the other side of
our fence fleeing. And then I woke up.
I do remember the quills of the porcupine to be long and
fearsome. But what I was grasping was soft and fluffy. Hmm.
Wondering, I looked up the word, porcupine. It comes from
the Latin porcus—pig—and spina—spine, quill. Some call it a quill pig, or a
thorn swine, or an iron pig. In Ghana,
the name is Kotoko, which literally means, “bend and fight.” Wikipedia’s source
says that this “refers to the ability of the porcupine to bend and attack its
attackers with quills from different angles without losing ground or allowing
the enemy to subdue it.” This is a real tactical advantage. In any case, it was
enough in my dream to cause the attackers to run away.
I thought, and thought—what does this mean?
I concluded that not only was there another unseen enemy, the
cougar, but that there was an unseen weapon there all along. Moms,
we are in a downright war for our children’s lives, their eternal destination
is at stake. And the Lord has given us His own tactical weapon—the Sword of the
Spirit, the Word of God—at our disposal. With it, we are to bend and fight and
to subdue the enemy! Let’s use what we have. It will cause the enemy to flee!
Do not be afraid of these people! Instead, remember the Eternal, our great and awesome Lord. Fight
for your people: your sisters and
your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.
Nehemiah 4:14 (The
Voice)
