While browsing through my Bible last night, I found this passage of Scripture. This is the key thing that amazes and impresses me about the Bible: Everything Is In There. Everything. Whatever problem you have, question, concern, the answer is right there in those pages.
Look at that Scripture closely. The evil spirit looks for a place to rest. You have run it off, and now, it wants to go somewhere else. Maybe where it wanted to land, that person was able to block it, and so, it goes back to find you. But now, it sees you are 'clean.' The evil spirit cannot tolerate a clean soul, so it will gang up on you, bringing seven, SEVEN! of its pals to try to get you. If you're not ready, they just might get in. And this is the key, when we cave to our weaknesses, it is much harder, in this case Seven Times Harder, to fight it off the next time. The evil spirit sees an open door and it wants in.
The devil, chief evil spirit that he is, is trying to find some kind of passage into us any way he can. His goal is to simply foul us up. To misplace something about our life to keep us off balance and just miss the good things of God and Faith. It is the devil's job. It is what he is here to do. To mess us up any time he can get a chance.
Watching TV when you really should be studying for a test or loafing on the net when you should be doing something else, laundry, for instance, as un-fun as it is? There he is. But this is the point, he wants to get to you any way he can, in the simplest fashion. Keeping you from doing something simple like laundry, or picking up the back yard, is perfect for him. All he needs in an inch. Reading the wrong kind of books, magazines, websites? Bang, there is the devil trying to keep us just a few levels lower than our best. It's his job and he's good at it.
A simple turn of a few pages in the Bible and BANG! Right there in front of your eyes is exactly, exactly why it is so important to work on the awareness that the devil is waiting, waiting for just the right moment for him to strike. I can point to one particular instance, that seems really harmless on the surface, but it is an under-the-table approach that the devil will use. I was chatting with some of the guys at work and it wasn't long before it turned to talking about other people and their mistakes and failings. Sure as the world, I joined in saying 'Yeah, that's right,' and generally agreeing with them. At that moment, a sharp voice entered my head saying, 'Stop That!' Needless to say, that was God warning me not to get involved in the gossip and hearsay of others. It is not healthy for me/you to do this and it sends a negative spirit to the person you are talking about. It goes both ways. It hurts you and it sends an unhealthy spirit message to the other person. It's hard sometimes when we think about the people who have hurt us and have done us wrong. It is easy to turn up the volume and rant on about how he or she did this or that. But the negatives that are sent out are simply not worth expelling the energy. Now, this takes some strong will power to bite your tongue. This does not mean we do not defend ourselves when we are done wrong, but in so many cases, the damage falls back on us. We carry the negative spirit around and on us (yes, ON us) and if we're not careful, it will get IN us. Yes, IN US.
It is a huge responsibility we have taken upon ourselves to walk with Christ and live in Faith. It is massive. It comes with daily twists and turns that challenges the very foundation of what we are trying to do and how we are trying to live. CS Lewis discusses this in his excellent book, Mere Christianity, saying that when we begin to walk with Christ, get ready for the ride of your life. (I discuss this more in depth in an earlier posting called The Two Phases of Faith.)
When I struggle with these evil spirits (and they can be anything, anywhere), I have a moment of acceptance that I am not alone and my struggle is the same as anyone else. When the spirit takes hold, and I fail, I immediately grab my Bible or a positive book of faith (Joel Osteen, Martin Luther, Billy Graham), open it up and start reading. When you feel good pouring out of you, get that pitcher of good and pour more in. Now. That Second. Keep pouring and eventually, the evil spirit will drown. It is immense power knowing that evil spirits are aware that one day, one moment, you may not be paying attention, and then, right then, is where it will strike.
Read Matthew 13:43. Read it again. And again. And one more time.
It is a simple, powerful truth.
1 comment:
I'm really amazed how you've embraced this concept. Most Christians have a very difficult time with believing they can be vexed by an evil spirit. I've studied this issue of evil spirits and their influence on people for most of my Christian life...since I was 8. I'm proud of you. And you've explained it so well here. Good job. Now since you wrote something encouraging about overcoming, expect to deal with some "attacks" this week. Satan doesn't like it when we talk about how to overcome him. :)
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