The Lion is Near

Psalms 18:15 – Then, with His mighty roar He laid bare the foundations of the earth, uncovering the secret source of the sea. The hidden depths of land and sea were exposed by the blast of His hot breath. (The Passion Translation)

After weeks of seeing lions in my spirit, and having them highlighted to me literally everywhere around me in the natural, I was reading the Psalms a few weeks ago and came across this verse. Immediately, I heard in my spirit the sound of a Lion’s roar – it was so loud, so violent, so passionate that it shook not only the atmosphere around me, but I could sense it shaking the heavens as well.

I felt a heavy fear of the Lord, and had to lay face-down on the carpet for a few moments as the sound of the roar reverberated in my spirit. I felt the passionate heart of the Father, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, over his children who have been under a heavy assault in their minds and emotions as of late. We are at war, and many are weary and feel ambushed in the spirit.

In the natural, I began to sense what felt like hot breath on my neck, and I went into a vision where I saw again a lion that was so massive and glorious, and so incredibly close in proximity, that He literally took my breath away. I watched as He shook His mane wildly, with great purpose. The vision then shifted to a lovely, homely-looking, comfortable rug that was being shaken out to have all the dirt and debris removed from it. In the final moments of the rug being cleaned, I heard in my spirit the sound of the Lion’s roar again, and I could hear in the tone of His roar an intense love that left me weeping. When I finally had a moment to recover from what I had just seen and felt, I began to ask the Lord to speak to me about what this all meant.

The Lord spoke several things to me regarding this vision:

1. He’s getting to the bottom of things (“… The hidden depths of land and sea were exposed by the blast of His hot breath”). I felt the intensity of His love for His children, particularly those who have felt the wrestle against what you thought was “old patterns” and “old ways of thinking/behaving” that seem to have popped up again. The enemy has had one last try by ambushing you with this, but the Lion has seen it and is ROARING over you, and His love is exposing and shaking off the things that hold you back or that make you feel “comfortable” so that you will walk in the freedom that Jesus paid for you to walk in (“Whom the Son sets free is free indeed” – John 8:36). Any dirt from the last season is shaking off.

2. He is bringing His children back to their foundations in Him (“…He laid bare the foundations…”). He is uncovering what foundation we have actually built upon so that we can remain strong in all circumstances (Matthew 7:24-25: “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.”). He is bringing His beloved ones back to the true foundations, the rock, and their first love (Revelation 2:4). “Back to basics,” I hear the Spirit of the Lord say. The foundation is intimacy, which is where the enemy cannot touch you.

3. He is close (“…the blast of His hot breath..”). Though a fear of the Lord came upon me during this encounter, and though I felt an unnerving shaking in the heavenlies, I knew that I could trust Him and what He was doing. I felt, for a second, the blast of His hot breath on my neck, and I heard Him say, “You only feel it on your neck because I AM THAT CLOSE TO YOU, and I don’t intend on leaving you or forsaking you…in fact, I MEAN that you would remain this close to Me” (Hebrews 13:5: “I will never leave you nor forsake you”).

He Has Already Taken the Hit for You

On another day, while praying more into this encounter, I went into a waking vision of myself standing at the end of an old mine field. The field was not large, but I could sense that underground, it was teeming with hidden bombs ready to go off and destroy me. It felt like an ambush. At the end of the field, there was a hill where the Lion stood waiting for me. He was regal and indeed wild, but I knew that I could trust Him.

I realized that I needed to get to the Lion, at any cost. But I also knew that the mine field was active, and I began to tremble as I feared for my life. I caught the gaze of the Lion’s eyes, and grew in confidence as I kept my eyes fixed firmly upon His and began to take my first step into the mine field. My thought was that if I kept my eyes firmly upon His, He would be able to guide me through the field to safety with Him. This is how I would have navigated this in the past.

As quick as the blink of an eye, the great Lion suddenly appeared next to me. Again, I felt His breath on my neck as He whispered in my ear, “Hold on to Me.” I somehow found myself compelled to get onto His back, and cling for dear life to His mane! I noticed that His paws were MASSIVE, and His voice was filled with raw love and passion for me. My finite expectation was that He would gallop through the mine field at full speed, taking me to safety on the other side. But what actually happened brought so much encouragement and life to my soul that I am trembling even as I type this.

The Lion took His time walking through the mine field, with me on His back, clinging to His mane. Yet with every step that His large paws would touch down, it was always on top of the mine bomb. His paws would “take the hit” every single time. Though His paws bled, nothing harmed me and I made it through the mine field that was set up to take me out because the Lion took the bomb blast time and time again, on my behalf.

I came out of the vision, weeping in repentance (Romans 2:4: “…the kindness of God leads you to repentance”). Jesus took it all, for me. How could I ever allow myself to be distracted by or fearful of the enemy’s schemes before me. Why would I ever think that I had to do it on my own.

The Lion is Close

Whether you feel a shaking and exposing in the spirit or in your emotions, or maybe you fear the hidden ploys of the enemy set before you, I felt the Lord’s urgent encouragement over you – HE IS CLOSE. He is closer than you know, and He is roaring over you and fighting for you. If you lean in and hold on tightly, He will carry you through this season and take every hit, on your behalf.

I also felt His reminder that (as C.S. Lewis states in the Chronicles of Narnia), He is GOOD, but He is not a “tame lion.” When He roars, we tremble…but we acknowledge His goodness and His kindness, and also His raw love for us and His protection over us.

He is near. And He is FOR you.

Hosea 11:9-11: “No, I will not unleash my fierce anger. I will not completely destroy Israel, for I am God and not a mere mortal. I am the Holy One living among you, and I will not come to destroy. For someday the people will follow me. I, the Lord, will roar like a lion. And when I roar, my people will return trembling from the west. Like a flock of birds, they will come from Egypt. Trembling like doves, they will return from Assyria. And I will bring them home again,” says the Lord.” (New Living Translation)