CHAPTER 5: THE WAR WITHIN
The next morning, Christiana woke up feeling unusual. Even though she slept through the night, she felt drained, her mind clouded and her spirit unusually heavy. The hunger and fire she felt the previous day seemed weaker, almost like something was pressing against her. Immediately, she recognized what was happening, this wasn't ordinary tiredness. This was warfare. Whenever a believer begins to rise spiritually, the enemy tries to pull them back. Not always with dramatic attacks, but with quiet discouragement, emotional weight, and subtle resistance.
Christiana sat at the edge of her bed and whispered, "Why now?" She opened her Bible, but the words didn't connect the way they usually did. She tried praying, yet her thoughts wandered everywhere. What was easy yesterday suddenly became difficult today. It felt like she was pushing against an invisible wall. She was tempted to give up and "try again later," but something inside her refused to surrender. She remembered her dream, the mountain, the strong wind behind her, and the scripture from the day before "Deep calls unto deep." Now she understood it more clearly: if deep is calling her higher, deep resistance will also rise against her.
Instead of forcing long prayers, Christiana placed her hand over her chest and whispered gently, "Holy Spirit, help me." Instantly, a warm calmness touched her heart, small, but enough to strengthen her. She stood up and started pacing the room. "I refuse to go back to who I was. I refuse this heaviness. I am rising, and nothing will stop me," she declared. With each word, strength returned. Her mind cleared, the pressure lifted, and she felt her spirit come alive again. She suddenly realized that this wasn't just an attack. It was training. God was teaching her how to stand, how to fight, and how to hold the ground He had given her.
Later that afternoon, a friend messaged her: "Sister Christy, you came to my heart strongly today. Hope you are okay?" Christiana smiled and replied, "Yes, I'm fine." And truly, she was. She now understood something she had never fully grasped: the biggest battles happen inside, and the greatest victories are often the quiet ones. The enemy doesn't attack what is empty—he attacks what is rising. He resists who is becoming. He fights where God is moving.
That night, as she lay down to sleep, she whispered, "Lord, thank You for teaching me to fight. I'm ready for what is ahead." And with that, a deep peace washed over her. The war within had not destroyed her, it had strengthened her. And this was only the beginning.