The Trap

The exhilaration of victory continued to grow in each of us. I felt that being in this army and in this battle had to be one of the greatest adventures of all time. After destroying most of the vultures that had been attacking our mountain, we began picking off the vultures that still covered the prisoners. As the cloud of darkness dissipated, the prisoners were bathed in sunlight and began to wake up as if they had been in a deep sleep. They were immediately repulsed by their condition, especially by the vomit that still covered them, and started cleaning themselves up. As they beheld Faith, Hope and Love, they also saw the mountain and ran toward it.

Though the evil horde sent arrows of Accusation and Slander at their backs, the former prisoners did not stop. By the time they got to the mountain many had a dozen or more arrows stuck in them, yet they seemed to not even notice. As soon as they began to scale the mountain, their wounds began to heal. With the cloud of depression largely dispelled, it seemed as if everything was now getting much easier.
The former prisoners had great joy in their salvation.
They seemed so overwhelmed with appreciation for each new level of the mountain that it gave us a greater appreciation for those truths too.
Soon a fierce resolve to fight the enemy arose in the former prisoners. They put on the armor provided and begged to be allowed to go back and attack the enemy who had held them captive and abused them for so long. We thought about it, but then decided we should all stay on the mountain to fight.
Again, the voice of the Lord spoke, saying, "A second time you have chosen wisdom. You cannot win if you try to fight the enemy on his own ground. You must remain on My holy mountain."
I was stunned that we had made another decision of such importance just by thinking and briefly discussing it. I then resolved to do my best not to make another decision of any consequence without prayer. Wisdom then stepped up to me quickly, took both of my shoulders firmly and looked me straight in the eyes, saying, "You must do this!"
As Wisdom said this to me, he pulled me forward as if he were saving me from something. I looked back and saw that, even though I had once been on the broad plateau of
"Galatians Two Twenty," I had drifted to the very edge without even knowing it. I had come very close to falling off the mountain. I looked again into the eyes of Wisdom, and he said with the utmost seriousness, "Take heed when you think
you stand, lest you fall. In this life you can fall from any level."
I thought about Wisdom's words for quite a while. In the exuberance of the victory we were starting to achieve and the unity we were beginning to experience, I had become careless. It was more noble to fall because of the onslaught of the enemy than to fall because of carelessness.