Behind the Darkness

by W. Franklin Lattimore

“Every day of my life, unfortunately,” Brent responded. “So, how will I know that my decisions during this test are the right ones?”

  “Brent, I will not be available to call upon during the events to come. I will not be available to give you counsel.”

  “What about the Holy Spirit?”

  “Who is the Spirit, if not me? Who is the Father, if not me? Who am I, if not both the Father and the Spirit?”

  “So, no help from anyone?”

  “That’s what you demanded. Isn’t it? You want to make better decisions based on what you know of the situations in which you find yourself. If you want help, you must call upon you.”

  Fear, again, gripped Brent. He could only hope that whatever this test was, it wasn’t going to be as difficult as he was sure it could be.

  What happened next flung that hope beyond his reach.

  Let me reveal the situation that is before you that only you can attempt to control to a desirable outcome.”

  Joshua got out of his chair and began walking toward the stairs that would lead them, once again, to the second floor of the home. Brent immediately got up and followed.

  Arriving at the second floor landing, Joshua stopped and waited for Brent to reach him. “There is something I need to do that will help you during this experience. But I want your permission, since this is a free-will issue.”

  Brent wanted more information, but Joshua didn’t say another word.

  He is God, right? I mean, I should just be able to trust what he wants to do. But what is he asking me to allow? Should I ask? He is wanting my permission, so I should at least know what it’s about. But if I ask, am I revealing to him that I don’t automatically trust his heart toward me?

  Brent knew right away the answer to his last question. The whole event into which he found himself swept up was happening because of Brent’s struggles regarding God’s heart.

  Scripture passages came to mind. Jesus had said,

  “Among you, what father, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if his son asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead? Or if his son asks for an egg, would he give him a scorpion? So if you, who have sinful lives, know how to give good things to your children, how much more will the Father in Heaven give good gifts to any who keep asking Him?” 1

  God will never violate his own word. Therefore Brent knew that God would never give him anything—or do anything to him—that was harmful. Brent knew what his answer must be.

  “You have my permission,” said Brent.

  Joshua gave him a soft smile as he reached toward Brent with his hands. Placing one on each side of Brent’s head, he spoke a silent word with his lips. Dropping his hands, he said, “Good. Let’s get started.”

  Brent scrunched his brow and stood staring as Joshua walked toward the bathroom door through which Elizabeth had just gone. He stopped and turned to face Brent once again. Brent walked forward, and just before coming to a stop next to Joshua, he asked, “What did you do to me?”

  “I took away a burden.”

  Brent tilted his head, eyes locked upon Joshua’s. Again Joshua smiled.

  “You are going to find,” began Joshua, “that your sexual libido will not be guiding any of your decisions in the freedom zone. I removed from you all hormone-based sexual urges. You will be no good in this situation if you have eyes that succumb to lust. As of this moment, you are now capable of compassion without the draw toward physical intimacy. This is important, considering the fact that Elizabeth is a beautiful young woman who would ordinarily stir certain appetites within you.”

  Brent dropped his eyes. “Oh.”

  “Brent, lift your eyes back to me. I did not say these words to slight you, only to answer your question.”

  When Brent looked back up, Joshua directed his attention to the closed bathroom door. “Look through the door and watch what Elizabeth is doing.”

  “She’s using the bathroom. Wouldn’t I be violating her privacy?”

  “She cannot see you. And now that you have no interest in her physical appearance, you will not be troubled by what you see.”

  Brent still felt uncomfortable, but he reached for the door knob.

  “No, Brent. Look through the door.”

  “Look through?”

  “Don’t let the physical things of this world be a barrier to you. See through the door.”

  Brent looked at the door, willing it to be as glass. Immediately it went from opaque to perfectly clear, like a freshly-washed window. His eyes went large. He angled his head toward Joshua, but kept his eyes on the bathroom.

  “Very good, Brent. But you can still do better. You have created for yourself a glass barrier. Whatever roadblock you put before you, you will have to encounter. Now get rid of the remaining barrier.”

  With another moment of mental effort, the entire wall, along with the door, disappeared. Before him was a room completely open to the hallway in which he stood. With no barriers to his sight, he could see Elizabeth standing in her pajamas before the sink, looking into the mirror. And just like everything else in the surrounding environment, she was perfectly still.

  “I…I…can see her.”

  “Good. I’m going to add another element to the mix of what you can do. Don’t be startled by what you are able do next. Open your spiritual ears. He who has ears to hear, let him hear what goes on in the mind of a desperate young lady.”

  Without further warning, time began to move again. Elizabeth lifted her right hand and swept her hair from in front of her right eye, pulling it behind her ear. There was a lost look in her eyes.

  “I look awful.”

  Brent was startled! He heard those three simple words as clearly as if they had been spoken from her mouth. He quickly looked at Joshua in amazement. Joshua, with a tip of his head, indicated that Brent should redirect his attention to Elizabeth.

  “I’m scared. Maybe I shouldn’t do this.” She lifted up a box and looked at it. “What if I am? I think I’m going to be sick.” She put the box down unopened. She placed her hands on the countertop and leaned forward over the sink. She didn’t get sick, but she did begin to cry.

  Almost as quickly as she began, she forced herself to stop and stood upright again. “What if Mom heard me?” She stood silent for a few seconds listening intently for movement in the hallway.

  Brent held his breath as he, too, listened.

  Nothing.

  Elizabeth turned to the door and made sure that it was locked…again. She picked the box back up. “E.P.T. Results in only ten minutes.” She sighed. “I may not last that long.” She opened the box, withdrew the test stick and unwrapped it. She pulled the folded instructions out of the box as well, and turned so that she could lean back against the counter and read.

  “Nothing to it.”

  Brent and Joshua watched as she righted herself, walked to the toilet, opened the lid and administered the pregnancy test. When she was done, she flushed the toilet and set the test stick down on the counter top and washed her hands.

  There wasn’t much room in the bathroom, but Elizabeth found the space adequate enough to start pacing. “Oh, God, please. I’m begging you. Don’t let me be pregnant.”

  Brent turned to Joshua.

  “I take her situation very seriously, Brent. However, what she is saying right now is not a true prayer born of relationship. She doesn’t know me, but she wants me to correct the consequences of her actions. I do not make it a practice to undo the consequences of past actions. But if she will eventually allow me to do so, I will take away all of the spiritual consequences.”

  “So, she is pregnant?”

  Joshua nodded. “By a young man two years older than she, named Jason Foy. He has already abandoned her to endure this alone. When she told him that she thought she was pregnant, he told her that he couldn’t have the scandal in his life, that it would ruin his chances for a basketball scholarship with a big school.”

  Basketball. Brent mentally put himself into
the basketballer’s position. He, too, had thought he might be good enough for a scholarship. How would I have handled this?

  “An honest question, Brent. By that time in your life, though, you already knew me as your Lord. This young man has no one in his life to compel him to do the right thing. I love the boy, but he, like Elizabeth, is not one of my own.”

  “Are you going to do something about it? I mean, are you going to cause him to see his mistake in all of this?”

  “Brent, he is not my responsibility here. He is yours. She is yours.” Again Joshua motioned to Elizabeth.

  Brent began to feel his heart hammer in his chest. “She’s what?”

  “I’m not giving you my power so that you can just witness what is going on. The power is yours so that you can—as you so succinctly contended while up at your papaw’s secret place—‘make better decisions that people can live with.’

  “None of what I am showing you here is my responsibility to figure out or to work on. After all, you did say, and I quote, ‘Give me your power and I’d protect people!’ Now the power is yours. Elizabeth is completely in your hands.”

  Brent’s jaw dropped, as did his heart. Now he was the one who thought he’d be sick. “I…I didn’t ask for this! Not this!”

  “And yet, this is what you’ve been given. Understand, Brent, I am not doing this as a form of punishment. I’m not doing this to ‘get back’ at you. This is a prayer that I have chosen to answer with a yes. And, no,” continued Joshua with a soft look in his eyes, “you cannot back out now. Consequences, Brent. Remember?”

  Brent looked back at Elizabeth to find that she had stopped mid-stride during her pacing. She was suspended in time again. He looked back at Joshua.

  “Okay,” said Joshua. “Now that you know some of the gravity of the situation, you and I need to talk about the ‘freedom zone’ that was established. You may have power, but you don’t have all power. I need to let you know what your limits are. How about we go sit on the back deck?”

  “Umm… Yeah… All right.”

  Instantly they were sitting beneath an umbrella in chairs at a glass patio table.

  “Whoa!” Brent exclaimed.

  “And that is something else that you can now do,” responded Joshua.

  1 The Bible – New Testament - Matthew 7:9-11, Luke 11:11-13

  Brent’s heart finally ratcheted down a few beats per minute. This ride that he was on was certainly not ordinary, but at least he was finally getting to the place where he was able to expect the unexpected.

  He looked at Joshua across the glass-topped patio table. The more Brent looked at him, the more he realized how the people in Bible times would not have seen him as extraordinary. He could understand why Jesus’ own family members were unimpressed with his claims to be both God and the Messiah.

  Conversely, he could see why his disciples had immediately dropped their careers and businesses without any debate in order to follow him. While his stature was not impressive, everything else about him was.

  This was Jesus. King of the Jews, Messiah, and Savior. This very person was responsible for the whole of creation. He walked with Adam in the Garden of Eden. He fashioned Eve out of Adam’s rib. He gave Noah direct instructions on how to create a massive ship that was at least 450 feet long, 45 feet high, and 75 feet wide.

  I’m sitting across from the very one who will, one day, defeat a world dictator known as the Antichrist. He will restore all that has become broken in this world. Everyone who knows this man—this man who is also God almighty—will live forever because of the punishment and death that he took upon himself to save us from both Hell and ourselves.

  “Thank you, Brent.”

  Brent snapped out of his thoughts. “I’m sorry. What?”

  “Thank you for acknowledging who I am.”

  “Oh. I uhh… You’re welcome.”

  “Though I am sorry that I don’t live up to what you would consider an ‘impressive stature.’”

  Brent didn’t know what to say to that! He could feel the temperature rise up through his neck and into his face. Embarrassment rose to an uncomfortable degree. “Joshua, I didn’t mean…”

  Joshua responded with a big grin. “Relax, Brent. It was just a little humor. I invented it, you know.”

  Brent felt better almost right away. Almost. He smiled in appreciation of the good-natured wit.

  “Okay, let’s get back to the matter at hand. Your freedom zone.

  “You are going to discover many things of which you are now capable over the next multitude of hours. While I am not granting you omnipresence—the ability to be everywhere at once—I am allowing you to move about in ways that you see fit. You can walk, move along in vehicles with people, or even transport yourself immediately to a desired location.

  “Additionally, you may speak as loudly as you wish to any of the participants in Elizabeth’s life. However, the loudest that your voice will sound to any individual is as a still, small voice. To be heard, though, the individual will have to have ears to hear. In other words, those who remain in an attitude of prayer are the best candidates to receive what you are saying to them.

  “You already know that you can hear Elizabeth’s thoughts. One of the things that I am going to do for you, since you are not omniscient—all-knowing—is to allow you to ‘tag’ certain individuals. These tags will allow you to hear these individuals’ thoughts whenever you wish, even if you are not around them. Choose wisely and sparingly, though. If you tag the wrong person, you will end up hearing information that is not going to help you. If you choose to tag too many, you will end up with a muddled mess of confusion in your mind. In your mind, just speak the word tag at any individual and you will have that person’s thoughts and communication available to you. As an added benefit, you will be able to filter out what you would call spam. You can choose to only hear thoughts from these individuals that pertain to your goals.

  “Something that you may not do is overtly manipulate physical objects to let someone know that you are in the room with him. So, no trying to flip open Bibles using gusts of wind.”

  That caused Brent to smile.

  “That is not to say, though, that you cannot direct an angel to create a distraction or an obstacle. You will have…”

  “Wait! Back up! I get to control angels?”

  “Don’t be surprised by that. The purpose of these creatures is to wage war, protect, and deliver messages.”

  “Now that is cool!”

  Joshua laughed. “You may not think so when you see one. There is a reason why those who you read about in Scripture shrink back in terror when first seeing one of my messengers. However, you need to know that the angels I am sending to your aid will be in limited supply. And when I say that my agents wage war, you need to remember against whom they battle.

  “Demons exist, Brent, as you well know. But you have never seen the ones with which you dealt. Now you will see what demons are really like. They, too, have permission to work within their rights. They have their own zone of freedom.”

  Brent took that in. All of a sudden, the word ‘cool’ became less than cool. What am I about to witness during all of this?

  “Brent, son of Keith, listen closely to what I say next. Of all the things that you can control… Of all the things that you can manipulate…of all the things that you can give…none of it—and I do mean not one thing—is more important than love. You are not always going to want to love. You are not always going to think that it is in ready supply. But you must love in order to make a difference. You will be tested in this.

  “Now, do you have any questions before I leave you to your task?”

  Any questions?! You have got to be kidding!

  Brent sat quietly, his eyes wide and searching, his mind abuzz with images and options and…questions. “Okay, umm. A couple things. Obviously this situation with Elizabeth is going to come down to a decision on whether she keeps the baby or not. It seems to me that the boy who got her
pregnant should be a key player in the outcome of all of this. Should I focus most of my attention on him in order to get things to turn into something positive? I mean, Jason is just as lost and headed down just as bad a road as Elizabeth.”

  “Another good point, Brent. Jason doesn’t have anyone presently praying for him, and he is not seeking for any answers outside of what he can perceive with his own physical senses.”

  “So, I should make Jason my priority.”

  “I didn’t say that. But priorities are something that you are going to have to decide upon. You need to ask yourself questions regarding priorities throughout this whole situation. Where will your efforts be best spent? What outcomes need to take place immediately versus those that can wait a little while? That is not to say, though, that a less immediate need should be separated from your mind and your work, while working toward what has to happen right away.”

  Brent let that sink in. That is, as best he could.

  “Elizabeth has someone praying for her?” asked Brent.

  “Yes, her two friends.”

  “So, they are Christians, but Elizabeth is not. Have they been talking with her about Christ…err…I mean, you?”

  “You will have the ability to search these answers out on your own. You can give yourself the answers to all of your own questions.”

  Brent thought that through for a moment. “If that’s true, then I expect that I’ll be able to come up with solutions to her situation rather quickly.”

  “You will certainly discover the answer to that in the near term. And after all, isn’t that what this whole experience is about? This is your time to shine, Brent. You have the opportunity to show me that you can make decisions that are as good, if not better, than my own, with the added benefit of not having the weight of the whole Universe on your shoulders.”

  Brent didn’t like the way that sounded. He wasn’t that naïve. He knew he was going to be shown his humanness throughout the whole ordeal. But he also knew that he could make good decisions. He wasn’t going to back down from his belief that he could do a good job of providing people with outcomes with which they could actually live and even be satisfied—unlike what Joshua had done to him with the premature death of his mamaw.