The CALL

Chapter 2 - Two Witnesses

For days I had been in a deep depression. Everything seemed so bleak. Even the very sound of people irritated me, and any disruption to what I wanted to do, angered me.

I thought the worst of everyone and had to fight to contain the black thoughts that arose in me toward them. I felt as if I had slipped into hell and was sliding deeper into it each day.

I finally cried out to the Lord and almost immediately found myself standing in front of the door with Wisdom standing next to me. "Lord, I am sorry. I slipped from Your presence all the way into hell it seems."

"The whole world still lies in the power of the evil one," He replied, "and you walk on the edge of hell every day. Through the midst of it, there is a path of life. There are deep ditches on either side of the path of life, so you must not deviate from the narrow way."

"Well, I fell into one of the ditches and could not find my way out." "No one can find their own way out of those ditches. Following your own way is how you fall into them, and your own way will never lead you out.

I am the only way out. When you fall, do not waste your time trying to figure everything out, for you will only sink deeper into the mire. Just ask for help, I am your Shepherd, and I will always help you when you call on Me."

"Lord, I don‟t want to waste time trying to figure everything out, but I would really like to understand how I fell so far, so fast. What caused me to turn from the path of life and fall into the ditch like that?

You are Wisdom, and I know that it is wisdom to ask." "It is wisdom to know when to ask for understanding and when to just ask for help. Here it is wisdom for you to ask.

Only when you are in My presence can you understand. Your understanding will always be twisted when you are depressed, and you will never accurately see truth from that place.

Depression is the deception that comes from seeing the world from your perspective. Truth comes from seeing the world through My eyes from where I sit, at the right hand of the Father.

Like the cherubim in Isaiah 6, those who abide in My presence will say, the whole earth is filled with His glory. I remembered how as a new believer, I had read this text and actually thought that these cherubim were deceived.

I could not understand how they could say "The whole earth is filled with His glory," when the whole earth seemed to be filled with wars, disease, child abuse, treachery and evil on every side.

Then the Lord spoke to me one day and said, "The reason that these cherubim say that the whole earth is filled with My glory is because they dwell in My presence. When you dwell in My presence, you will not see anything but glory."

"Lord, I remember you teaching me that, but I have not lived it very well. I have spent much of my life seeing things from the dark side. I guess I have spent much of my life sitting in one of those ditches beside the path of life rather than walking on it."

"That is true," the Lord responded. "Every now and then you would get up and take a few paces, but then slide off into the ditch on the other side. Even so, you have made some progress, but now it is time for you to stay on the path. You do not have any more time to waste in those ditches."

The Lord's kindness and patience seemed overwhelming as He continued. "What caused you to slide into the ditch this last time?" He began. After thinking about it, I could see that I had become consumed with maintaining the feeling rather than knowing the Source of the feeling.

"I took My eyes off of you," I confessed. I know it seems too simple, but this is all that you did, and taking your eyes off of Me is all that you have to do to drift from the path of life. When you abide in Me, you will see nothing but glory.