Here in Zambia they have a tradition where boys as young as eight years old will leave their home for six months to move into the “bush.” They live away from society without any bathing in order to train to be what they refer to as a masked man. After their training is over, they come out of the bush disguised in huge masks made of wood and straw and tribal clothing. They make their way throughout the town causing a big ruckus. Crowds of people will chase them chanting and cheering, while young children will run in terror with tears in their eyes.
Last week was the time when all of the masked men came out. They paraded through the streets scaring people and causing young children to cry. Kids would come up to us yelling “RUN!!!!” while shoving us in the opposite direction of the masked man. They would tell us to hurry befor he beat us. He would come up to us dancing and chanting, but we were told not to look him in the eye or take any pictures. It honestly never really scared me, but it apparently still left space for the enemy to get into my head.
A few nights ago I had a nightmare. I honestly can’t remember the last time I had a nightmare so it kind of caught me off guard. In my dream a man dressed in all black with a scary mask started coming at me. Initially I froze in fear, but then I stopped looked him in the eyes and said “you don’t phase me!” I then proceeded to walk towards him confidently saying, “I am a child of the most high. A daughter of the King. I am strong and courageous and I don’t have to be afraid because He is with me everywhere I go. “ The masked man in my dream then immediately turned around and literally ran out of my dream.
I remember waking up and just thinking, “wow. Thank you Jesus for always protecting me, even from what seems like a silly dream.”
The rest of the day I couldn’t help but think back to that moment in my dream. The moment where I confidently proclaimed who I was in Christ and quoted scripture at the thing I feared.
I had recently talked to some girls on my team about how powerful scripture memorization could be. I talked about how when we have scripture in our minds we can use it to combat the enemy as soon as he starts plotting an attack on us. When he sneaks in to feed us lies or cause us shame, we can immediately quote scripture and boldly proclaim, “these things aren’t true because this is what God says about me!”
In my dream the enemy could no longer scare me and fled as I began speaking truth in the name of Jesus. He no longer had a place in my mind because I fought back with scripture and truth.
Imagine if we did that with everything the enemy threw at us or distracted us with. What if as soon as we felt the fear, lies, and shame creeping in, we fought back with the truth found in scripture? You see the enemy doesn’t know our future, only God does. He can’t determine what will happen or control the outcome, all he can do is fill our head with the thoughts that he knows will get to us. If we cling to the truth and speak into existence God’s promises as well as what He says about us, the enemy will have to flea.
So friends, let’s study scripture, memorize it, boldly proclaim it, and tell the enemy who’s boss!
Joyfully His,
Lizzy
