In an instant, I was awakened out of a deep sleep. As my eyes opened, I heard these words: “What would you do if a tsunami hit Hawaii?” Undisturbed,
I answered, “I would go to higher ground, but You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies. You save me from violent opponents.”
The Lord had given me this scripture from Psalm 18:48 a few days after Dennis left for a two-week trip to New Zealand, and I had declared it daily. I assumed the Lord had given it to me to pray for Dennis’ protection during his trip. But God had another reason for planting that scripture in my heart; He
knew what was to come. Throughout the two weeks I declared this verse, I had thought a great deal about this place “beyond the reach of my enemies,”
which is, of course, the secret place of the Most High God referred to in Psalm 91:1.
You might think that this unusual experience caused me to be restless or fearful. Instead, I was in such peace that after answering the question I instantly
fell back to sleep. The next morning, I didn’t remember being awakened or the Lord asking me a question, not at that time anyway. I flew out early
that morning for meetings in Hawaii, where Dennis and I had planned to reunite after his meetings in New Zealand. We wanted to rest Saturday before
beginning our meetings Sunday morning.
But on Saturday at 5:00 a.m., the pastor of the church called and informed Dennis that an earthquake, registering 8.8 on the Richter scale, had just struck
off the coast of Chile, sending a tsunami bearing down on the Hawaiian Islands. A mandatory evacuation to “higher ground” was in effect.
Immediately I remembered being awakened the night before and related my experience to Dennis. We prayed, forbidding the tsunami to come near any of the
Pacific islands. We prayed that the tsunami would hit the words we had prayed and bounce back in the direction it had come.
The hotel staff moved us to a room on a higher level. After moving our luggage, we enjoyed a peaceful breakfast while others rushed to the airport, trying
to get on a flight before the tsunami hit. But the Holy Spirit had already warned me of what was to come. He had given me the scripture to stand on
two weeks before the earthquake struck, and we were at peace. The tsunami never reached Hawaii; instead, it bounced back and struck the coast of Chile.
What an advantage those of us who are believers have because of our relationship with the Holy Spirit! John 16:13 says, “When the Spirit of truth comes,
he will guide you into all truth. He will not be presenting his own ideas; he will be telling you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future”
(NLT).
The Spirit of God will warn us before disaster happens so we can either pray to influence those events or avoid them altogether. But we must pay attention
and avoid being too busy with other things to hear His voice or we will miss His warning.
