A Call To Arms

Written by Joy Hadjian

Thursday, 12 November 2009 04:39

It was mid May and my sister called. "Did you pray in each room like I instructed you to?" she asked. "Yes, I did." I replied.

"What about the attic? Did you pray in the attic too?"

"No, that was the only room we didn't pray in." I confessed.

"Well, I don't want to scare you but I had a dream last night that a demon is hiding in your attic. It's crouched in a corner above your bedroom and it's dripping black stuff onto your husband as he sleeps."

Naturally this information terrified me and my husband! We promptly scaled a ladder and poked our heads into our lightless attic. With all the courage and authority we could muster, we prayed loudly for God to remove anything unclean or unholy from our attic and our property. I have to admit that a part of me wanted to burst out laughing at the sight of us. We must have looked so ridiculous clutching each other as we balanced precariously on the top step of the ladder. My husband later joked that it reminded him of the movie "The Exorcist" when the priest shouts "The power of Christ compels you!" But this was no laughing matter. Two Christians, unaware of each other, warned us about the need to pray over our house and seek God's protection. We were under attack.

The assault began several weeks prior. My husband endured 7 days worth of troubling symptoms that alluded to a brain tumor or a stroke. An emergency CT scan and blood tests revealed nothing, yet a lingering numbness on his scalp remained. This led him to have mild panic attacks and an overall feeling of dread. The battering of my husband's health and well-being coincided with his befriending of a woman who visited his salon. She claimed to be terminally ill and yearned to surround herself with godly people. Filled with compassion, he invited her to church. She wasn't able to visit that week but agreed to do a personal Bible study with me. She cautioned me about her unorthodox upbringing. She was raised in a satanic cult.

I arrived at her apartment armed with nothing but my Bible. For the next ninety minutes she poured out her life story. It was a story so swollen with horror and unspeakable darkness that I needed to wake my sleeping husband the moment I returned home. I was afraid. She had described vile deeds done to her as a child and confessed to acts she had participated in as an adult. If only I could scrub my memory clean of all the heinous things I'd heard. Instead my mind was branded with ghastly images and my heart was leaden with grief. Still, I was compelled to meet with her again. She demonstrated such a genuine desire to be close to God and to be delivered from her formidable past.

Over the course of the week, several of us spent time with her, sharing numerous scriptures about discipleship and repentance. The more urgent she became in getting right with God, the more anxious I felt. It seemed like a stack of bricks had been placed on my chest one morning when I woke to thoughts of her. The enemy was on to me and he wasn't going to let her go without a fight. For most of her life, she had been his loyal subject, deftly doing his work. What if this dark society she was once part of decided to target my family if she chose to reveal their secrets to the authorities? Intimidation is one of Satan's specialties. Then just like a firework that scales the evening sky toward heaven only to burst into a sparkly mess and fade to black, so did she. When challenged to show her repentance by her deeds, she declined. Ephesians 5:11 says to "Take no part in the worthless deeds of darkness; instead, expose them." She decided that exposing certain exploits to the police would be too great a risk. It would put her earthly life in jeopardy. It seems, for the moment, Satan has the advantage in this particular battle. For Jesus says in Luke 9:24 "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it."

That following week, after her studies ceased, a fearful presence emerged in our home. Twice I entered a room to be greeted by a feeling of terror. Praying forcefully for God's protection, the fear subsided. My husband and I united in prayer as we called on God to clear our house of anything uninvited. Finally, it seems that peace has returned and I have become a reluctant warrior.

This experience has exposed my naivety and pushed me so far beyond my comfort zone that I can't see where it once was. For as long as I have been a Christian, I've believed there is a spiritual battle, in theory. This was the first time, however, that I had actually engaged in hand to hand combat with Satan's little helpers. Life seems more pleasant when we're ignorant of the Devil's ways. Cultivating an awareness of demonic activity frightened me. My past reaction to such things was similar to the villagers in Mark 5:14-17. After witnessing the healing of a demon possessed man and the collective suicide of a herd of pigs, the people immediately asked Jesus to leave their town. What they didn't understand spooked them. That kind of riff raff was better off being over there, in someone else's town. Now God has wafted heavenly smelling salts beneath my nose to awaken me to the battle that's been raging for thousands of years. Revelation 12:17 says, "And the dragon was angry at the woman and declared war against the rest of her children – all who keep God's commandments and maintain their testimony for Jesus."

I'm embarrassed to say that my knowledge of spiritual warfare is anemic, at best. I'm sensing that this may be true for many of us. When soliciting other people's perspective regarding run-ins with the dark side, I got only a few sheepish responses, almost like the topic was somewhat taboo. Thank you to those who shared their stories with me. We need to be educated on matters of war. It's empowering to hear how Christians fended off foul beings by calling on the name of Jesus. We've all heard the phrase "knowledge is power". What if half our challenges are rooted in demonic activity? What if depression, disease and addiction could be licked by a single rebuke? I realize not all of life's troubles are attributed to spiritual warfare, but perhaps more are than we think. Maybe that explains why certain thorns can never seem to be plucked from our side. We've simply not used the right tools to remove it.

So what's the enemy up to in your life? Being an expert predator, he's tailored his attacks to suit each one of us perfectly. Every temptation and taunt is custom made. Watch how he adjusts his tactics according to the individual. Sparring with Jesus, he targets Jesus' confidence in His identity, His trust in God and His commitment to His cause (Matthew 4:1-11). In Matthew 9:32-33, Satan is able to keep a man silent. In the story of Legion, this individual was drawn to isolated places and enticed to engage in self destructive behavior. Others were stricken with physical ailments (Matthew 12:22, 17:15). Probably the most disturbing for me is the account of a father's son being targeted for destruction (Matthew 17:15). Clearly nothing is sacred in this perverse barrage.

It's time we embrace our role as mighty warriors and grasp the power offered to us. We've nothing to fear since we know how the story ends (Revelation 20:10). Let's get dressed for battle. The Lord has provided us with the helmet of salvation, a breast plate of righteousness, a belt of truth, shoes made of the gospel of peace and a shield of faith (Ephesians 6:14-16). Remember to bring your mighty weapon, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Bible (Ephesians 6:17). Be encouraged that God has enlisted a heavenly army to assist us (Hebrews 1:14). Even when we sleep, the Lord is standing guard (Psalm 34:7). With a simple prayer, our voice is heard in the heavens (2 Chronicles 30:27). Most of all, remember that we house the Spirit of Jesus in our hearts and that same Spirit overcame death itself (Romans 8:10-11).