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The Spiritual Realm
Posted: Sunday, October 31, 2010 by Morgan inI had an interesting experience tonight. As you may notice, I am writing this on Halloween, a day that I think Satan has hijacked from Christianity (as many have pointed out, it is also Reformation Day, but it is heavily overshadowed by Halloween). It is a day of candy, "costumes," pranks, and fun surface stuff like that.
But....
There's also another side to Halloween. It is a dark, terrifying, and hopeless side. For every physical thing there is also a spiritual counterpart. There are people who dress up as scary monsters, but there are also real, tangible, evil spirits who wreak havoc on this earth. They are as real as you and I. Though Halloween may seem like an innocent holiday full of spreading candied joy around the neighborhoods, there are forces of evil at work, both physically and spiritually.
Anyway, as I was cleaning the office in my high school tonight, I was constantly overcome by an unshakable sense of fear. Now, I'm not generally a fearful person, and I've cleaned the school at night plenty of times and there would be no reason for me to be afraid. Even so, I was constantly on edge and honestly scared for no particular reason. I kept hearing little noises that I am sure I didn't make. Some stuff I stacked on a counter fell down and scared me half to death. There was once when I'm sure I heard a voice say something. There were a couple times when I just went and checked all the rooms to make sure nothing was there. I even closed and locked the front door, which I usually leave open because it gets hot inside when I'm cleaning. It was creepy.
After a while I sort of realized it was a demon. I firmly believe that it was and I will stand by that. So I just started praying, praying against Satan and his strongholds on this earth, praying against the dark forces at work in this world, praying against the actions of people who worship Satan and his demons, praying against the demon of fear that was present at the school. I recited Romans 8 over and over and over and over until I left. At first I started saying it in my head, but near the end I was speaking out loud. It held back the fear. I don't know what would have happened if God was not there with me, but I was assured of His power and faithfulness in an incredibly tangible way. We serve a powerful God.
I read the book Adam, by Ted Dekker a couple years back. It was about a psychologist working for the FBI who is tracking down a demon-possessed serial killer. I know, I know, super weird. But that book vividly illustrated the realities of the spiritual realm to me. I have also talked with people who have had encounters with evil spirits, which brought the entire issue very close to home.
Now we can discount the power of demons and we can ascribe too much power to them. But we must not relegate them into nonexistence. That would be foolish. Many of Jesus' miracles included the casting out of demons. As Christians we know that if Jesus dealt with demons (or suffering or being hated for our faith or anything else), we can be sure that we will deal the same things. "For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son..." (Romans 8:29).
This isn't meant to scare you. It's just a reminder that there are actually evil spirits at work in this world. It's also a reminder that God is far more powerful than they are. Satan himself is on a tight leash and he will be cast into the lake of fire in the final days. This is a reminder that God wins in the end. We don't serve a "sky-fairy Jesus," as my pastor reminded us a few weeks ago. We serve the Jesus described in Revelation 19:11-16:
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
I'm glad he's on my side.
Well said. Thanks for sharing your experience, your response, and other insights related to it.