A Clear Choice

“You don’t think she’ll do it, do you?”

Marie stood far off, standing before two great doors. Both were open, calling to her. The first one was fiery and bright and holy, the other was cooler, yet empty, dark and calling, begging for Marie’s attention.

“I don’t know..her eyes seem to be drifting to the Holy Entrance..”

The two doors stood open and clearly presented a decision. The two angels and two demons stood above, not able to interfere at all.

“Boy, how I wish I could push her in the Worldly Entrance!” said one of the demons to the other.

“The Holy One has not allowed us to do that. We can simply give them the choice. She has done well so far.. But I’m still not positive that she will choose the Holy Entrance this time around.” concluded one of the angels.

“I know what you mean. We must not fear, however. Master knows what He is doing. He is in control.”

Marie still stood there, clearly still switching between which door she would walk through. The choice was so hard, she felt her brain might explode. She wanted it to be over.

“That’s it. Going with the world has caused me nothing but trouble. I can’t go there anymore.I just.. can’t.”

The demons begin getting physical. They begin pushing Marie to the ground, pulling her down. Suddenly, Marie folds her hands and squeezes her eyes shut.”Father, I know these lies aren’t true. Please protect me from them. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”

“Protect her!” a booming voice shouts at the angels.

The angels then swoop down at the command of the Father and take out their swords. They begin fighting the demons down, pushing them and shoving them off of Marie. Maire finally stands up and runs into the Holy Entrance. The demons scream “NOOO!!” at this, but they are powerless against the angels. 

Now, I’m sure you’re wondering what is in the Holy Entrance, what is beyond those Holy doors. The first thing Marie felt when she entered the Entrance was a warm breeze. A peace flowed through her veins. For a second, it was so quiet and still that she could hear her own heartbeat. 

Soon after, though, came an intense feeling of fullness and holiness, and it overwhelmed her. Marie kept walking. Finally, when she came out of the fire, she felt whole, at peace, and full. Pure, almost like she had been cleansed by going through the door. 

Marie entered a strange hallway that led to a door on the other side. The hallway, however, was filled with grotesque looking creatures that seemed to cover the walls and ceiling, but not the floor. The hallway had barely any light. Suddenly,  something touched her shoulder. She looked back, not frightened or particularly surprised at this. A man stood there, his hand gently on her shoulder. 

“If you follow Me, I will lead you down this path safely. None of these creatures will harm you, as long as you hold onto My Staff.”

“I will follow You.” Marie replied, not able to look away from the Man’s gentle eyes. 

“Let’s go, then.” He held out His stick for Marie to hold onto. She grabbed it, held it tightly.”But I must warn you, Marie. These creatures will stop at nothing to make you let go of My Staff. You must not listen to them. Not one word.”

“No, I will not listen to them.” Marie replied confidently. Marie saw that the Man was so bright that He illuminated the entire way. 

“What is your Name?” Marie asked.

He looked at her with a smile,”You may call me Light.”

“Light..” Marie whispered.

And so the two began to walk slowly down the hallway. Just as the Man had said, the creatures began to say things, things that Marie had heard before from the other creatures. You see, every day, one has to choose between following in the ways of the worldly, or the ways of the heavenly. Today, for the first time in her life, Marie has chosen to follow the heavenly ways, and not the worldly. However, what lies beyond each hallway are even more dangers than the last. 

After getting down the hallway, Marie sighs in relief. The Man smiles and says,

“Well done. You did good. You did not listen to any of those creatures. I am proud of you.’

Marie smiles. She has never heard anything like that before, such kind words.

“We are at the door now. Promise me that you will not let go this time, either. You must hold on tightly to My Staff.”

“I will not let go.” Marie says.

The Man pushes the door open. A bright light shines through, breaking and cursing the darkness behind them.

The door opens to a field filled with the most gorgeous flowers. It still is. A slight breeze lifts Marie up and her chest feels warm. 

“What is this place?” she asks.

“This is My Presence. You can only get here if you keep your focus on Me and Me alone. You will not always feel like this. You may be pulled back into The Valley Of The Shadow, which is where we last were.”

Marie looks back and sees the door is still open. She can feel the chill and evil in the hallway they had just been in. Marie tightens her grip on the Man’s staff.

“Were you the One who told the angels to protect me?” Marie asked, looking up at Him.

He looks at her with a smile.”Yes”

Marie feels tears well up in her eyes. She suddenly gets overwhelmed with joy and love. The Man kneels down and wraps His arms around her and holds her so tight she never wanted Him to let go.

“Thank You.” she says.

The two get up again and Marie takes hold of the Staff again. They continue to move forward. 

Soon, however, Marie begins to have thoughts. Doubts. What if I just imagined everything that happened? Or Could this Man actually be taking somewhere to harm me? Does He really love me? I’ve made so many mistakes and I have denied Him so much. How could He ever-

Then her thoughts stop as the Man suddenly halts. He kneels down by a River, puts down His staff, and splashes water on His face.

“Before we go on, you must first wash in the River. It will make you clean.”

Marie looks at the water and sees her reflection. She looks nothing like herself.. So filthy. Her eyes looked dark and hollow, lifeless and ghastly, not vivid blue like they were before. Her skin looked pale. Her hair slightly frizzy and it had turned a horrid shade of grey. 

Marie gasped and fell backward onto the ground, scared and frightened of her own reflection.

“It’s okay. You are not yet clean, but I will make you clean.”

The Man scooped some water from the River and gently let it drip onto Marie’s foot. She watched as He took her feet and gently poured water onto them. He then dipped her feet in the water.

“You don’t have to be afraid.”

Marie relaxes as He gently rubs her feet. Suddenly He playfully splashes some water on her legs. Marie then scooches over to the edge of the water and splashes some water up into the Man’s face. She laughs and He laughs. They continue their water fight for a couple of minutes until the Man finally says in a half laugh half serious tone-

“Alright, that’s enough now.” He gathers Himself up again and picks up His staff,”Now wash your face.” 

Marie obeyed. She scooped up the water and rubbed her face until she felt cleaner than clean. The water felt refreshing to her being. Marie looked once more into the water;

She looked like herself again. This Man had done so much for her, and she felt as if He knew her, but she did not yet completely know Him.

Marie dried her face and took hold of the Staff once more.”Where to now?” she asked.

The Man looked at her with that smile.”We’re going to keep moving ahead. Now remember-”

“Hold onto Your Staff.” she said with a smile.

“Haha, yes. So you do remember.”

They continued walking, but Marie did not make much conversation. By the time they were nearing the end of the Field, Marie’s grip on the Staff was not very tight. 

“We are entering into the Valley Of The Shadow again.” He looked down at her once more,”Hold onto My Staff.”

Marie nodded only half listening. She knew to hold the Staff. He did not have to keep reminding her. This made Marie slightly frustrated, but she did know why.

The door opened. The hallway resembled the other one, except this one had bones scattered everywhere. They did not look fresh, but dry and cracked, as if crying for water, but never being able to receive any. Marie suddenly became frightened. She held the Staff tighter until her knuckles turned white, but she did not feel any safer. 

“Stay close.” He said,” This is the Valley Of Dry Bones. It is very dangerous.”

“Why are we only going to dangerous places?” Marie asked,”Why couldn’t we just stay in the Field?”

“You will never grow if you do not go through the Valleys.” He replied, then paused.” Do you trust Me?”

Marie looked at Him, tears in her eyes.”I think so..” 

He bent down and brushed the tears from her eyes.”I’m sorry that you must go through this. I know that it was scary last time, but I am right here. I will not leave you or forsake. I am with you all the time.”

Marie nodded.

The pair continued down the hall. Marie heard the same temptations as last time. The same voices. Demons dropped down from the ceiling, but as soon as they would touch the Man’s Light, they would shrivel and dry, screech and hiss as they ran away. 

He is really protecting me.. I should not stray from Him. How could I? He loves me..”

Suddenly, a door to the right swings open. It has colours and lights coming from it, drawing Marie to it. 

Look at those new games! Don’t they look like so much more fun than reading the Bible or praying? Wow, that new show looks so good! It has that one actor in it! Oh, that guy is cute! 

While Marie is thinking about all the things on the other side of the door, she lets go of the staff without realizing it. She goes toward the door, but looks back to see the Man standing there, waiting for her to follow Him again.

“I’ll be right back,” she says,”I wanna go in here for a little while. Just wait here, okay?”

She goes through the door, not realizing what a terrible mistake she had made.

Marie goes through the door and instantly feels happy and a bit more safe.”Maybe I’ll come here sometimes, but not a lot. He might go without me, and I would be too scared to walk down the Valley Of Bones alone.”

Marie sees a bunch of other people all around her. 

“Why, hello there!” a girl starts walking up to her.”I’m Ellie! Welcome! Would you like anything? We have snacks, music , drinks, games, and so much more!”

“Haha, no thanks. I’m only visiting for a little bit. I’m travelling with a Man-”

Ellie’s face drops in a frustrated look,”No.. You’re one of them, aren’t you? A follower!” 

Marie is surprised Ellie knows about this,”Yes.. How did you know?”

“You are pure. You must have washed in the River. Well, I’ll just tell you now, I wouldn’t go any further with that Man if I were you.”

“Why? He’s nice. He loves me. He protected me.”

“It’s not worth it. I once followed the Man and I wouldn’t go back for anything. I’m comfortable here. I have lots of people to talk to instead of just that Man.”

Marie did not like what this girl was saying.”Well, I’m not going to stop following Him.”

“Suit yourself.” Ellie then walks away to talk to someone else. That is when Marie begins to feel it. Emptiness.

With the Man, she felt full of warmth and comfort. Sure it had felt a bit more dangerous, but Marie did not like this emptiness that she felt now and did not want to stay like that. No one talked to her, and no one even looked at her. She felt alone and frightened. 

She decided that she would go back. 

Marie made her way to the door, which wasn’t easy. There were a lot of people in the way, and Marie could barely see the door. “Almost..there..” 

She reached for the doorknob and-

It turned and Marie fell onto the floor in front of the door. It closed behind her and she was in the darkness. Marie was so scared that she began to cry out,”Light! Light, where are you? Light! I’m sorry I went away. Please forgive me..please..” 

Marie curled up in a ball on the ground. The creatures began to sliver around her and say the lies again.

“He left without you. He couldn’t stand you anymore. You betrayed Him. Ha! He’s gone forever. He doesn’t love you anymore!”

Marie was about to scream at them to stop when a bright light appeared, piercing the darkness. The creatures hissed and shrivelled up and ran away. Marie looked up and saw the Man there, standing with His hand extended towards her. 

Marie couldn’t believe that He had stood there and waited for her. She scampered up and wrapped her arms tightly around Him, never wanting to let go. He hugged back and they both cried as they hugged each other.

“Now,” the Man said,” where were we? Ah yes. Let us continue.”

This wasn’t the last time Marie had let go of His hand, and it won’t be the last. There is one other story of The Man that is worth noting, so here it is.

One day, Marie received a sword from the Man. It formed only when she quoted His scriptures. It cut through the creatures and demons so that she could fight alongside the Man. Sometimes, however, the Man had to fight for Marie, for she was helpless and could not truly fight on her own. All she had to do was be still. He killed off all the demons and they never came back. 

But there were times when Marie had to decide for herself whether to follow Him or go into one of the worldly doors. There were also times when they would go through the end of a Valley and the other side would be an ocean. Not a calm ocean, but one with stormy waves, a dark sky, and lightning and thunder. The Man would go across the threshold of the door and Marie would have no choice but to follow Him in. At first, Marie would begin sinking down into the ocean and crying out to Him to save her. Then He would say,

“Little one, where is your faith?” 

He would then reach out His hand and pull her up from the water. She then would balance on the water until she was sure it would hold her up. However, without faith that the water would hold her up, she could not walk it. The two would finally walk all across to the next door, and continue onward. 

This is how Marie’s story went on. There are many, many more stories to tell about her and many other people’s lives, but I cannot tell you everything.I will simply end it here. May God bless you abundantly.