Darkness can only live for a little awhile, but it is not allowed to stay where the light is. When light walks in, darkness trembles and cannot deny it’s presence or reality and I have been one to witness it.
At the beginning of this month we stayed in one of the darkest places I have ever been. It was filled with lust, greed, selfishness, everything sexual, and most of all void. It seemed to be a place where nothing could fill the emptiness or satisfy it’s deep desires. I realized more then ever that when it says, “Christ in Me, the Hope of Glory” the atmosphere changes where I walk and there is a noticeable difference between the void that filled peoples hearts around me and the light that I carry; Jesus.
We stayed in the center of Devil’s Den in the red light district in Pattaya. We walked up to the place where we were staying and soon came to realize this was not just a hostel with a bar to sell drinks, but for the sale of sex. There were Thai girls standing outside in their small little dresses where we were then escorted to the back, passing explicit posters to get to our room. As we arrived to our door the stench overtook my breath and it was repulsive. I couldn’t quite put my finger on why it smelled so distinct, similar to vomit, but worse and it’s what the entire place smelled like. We began to pray and ask G-d to permeate the atmosphere and that He would use us as a light to these women and to the men that we would soon become well acquainted with. I started to pray that G-d would also change the scent of the room, that the room would smell like the Kingdom, like goodness and love and truth, like Jesus. I asked Him to change the atmosphere. We finished up praying over each of our rooms and headed back down to meet up with our squad down the street. As we passed numerous go go bars and Thai women on their stools, I found myself again broken for the people I could see all around me. I was flashed with memories of when I was in Chiang Mai just a year previous doing bar ministry, sharing the light and love of Jesus to people who so desperately need it.
The day after we prayed over our room we came back to find it different. There was literally a different smell in our room and it was extremely evident. We didn’t spray anything and had nothing to spray that closely resembled the smell that was present. It smelled like a field of flowers, refreshing and new. There was not even a trace of anything repulsive and right then I realized not only do we look different, but we have a different scent. The scent of the L-rd is attractive and beautiful, His love and power far exceeds anything evil.
By the end of the week my view drastically changed on this being far from an ideal living situation. It began to feel exciting coming back each night, knowing I had the privilege to greet those lovely women and ask them how their day was. It dawned on me throughout the week that this place, Devil’s Den was exactly the kind of places we should be going into to find a room.
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” -Jesus
[Revelation 3:20]
