For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. [Ephesians 6:12]
I’ve read that passage so many times, yet I never really understood the weight that it holds until this month. Never in my life have I experienced firsthand as much blatant spiritual warfare as I’ve seen this month in Ethiopia…
To name a few of the crazy spiritual warfare things going on with our squad: 3 hour bloody noses, vomiting, seeing demons in the window, terrible vivid nightmares, panic attacks, anxious and dark thoughts, demonic oppression. Just not normal things.
In Africa, the enemy doesn’t try to disguise himself like he does in the US. In the US we often give into the enemy and don’t even realize—things like laziness, over eating, materialism, anxiety, depression, religion, control, etc.
But here, there aren’t many distractions so the enemy fights right out in the open. And it’s a real battle.
For the first 2 weeks of this month, I feel like there was a demonic presence over me and I didn’t even notice….I had a lot of anxious thoughts, wasn’t able to focus, and just felt generally “off.” One day I would be great dwelling in the Lord’s presence and the next I would be totally out of my element.
It all came to a point last week when I was so anxious one morning that my hands were shakey, my heart was pounding, I had a bunch of dark thoughts and I was angry for no reason…
“but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind…” [Romans 7:23]
I thought it was all in my head (the enemy is very cunning) and it was just an off day or something….I tried to wrack my brain to see if something triggered me but found nothing. At one point, I started writing a dark, depressing poem asking God what the heck was happening when finally my friend Morgan came up and immediately called it out as spiritual warfare.
When she prayed, the anxiety immediately washed away. I was able to smile and laugh and felt like myself again!!! That’s the power of Jesus!! (thanks @Morgs for stepping out :D)
There are a bunch of stories like this throughout the month, but I’ll just share one more for now. *if you want to hear more stories, please message me personally!!*
At church here, its not uncommon for people to manifest demons in church. Usually I don’t see it, but this particular Sunday, the enemy got a lil’ too close for comfort. I’m up at the front with two other racers worshipping and dancing when a girl right next to us starts screaming and rolling around on the ground. This was clearly demonic considering she was definitely not experiencing the peace of the Lord in this moment…
So immediately the three of us lay our hands on her and start praying hard core. Holy Spirit is putting words and scriptures in our mouths and meanwhile this girl is trying to bite our hands and pull them off of her. And so the battle continues. The pastor even comes over at one point to pray with us. It’s so loud and chaotic in there that I’m basically screaming my prayers out and at one point I was just like JESUS JESUS JESUS!!
Finally, after about a minute the demon left and she sat up completely normal and went back to worshipping. Just your average church service here apparently…
For real though, it’s one thing to see this stuff in movies and hear about it, but it’s another to actually experience it up close and personal. I felt such a new authority in that moment that I haven’t felt before. It was truly The Lord!!
So… a major takeaway this month: God’s sovereignty and empowerment.
God could easily slay every single demon on this earth in the blink of an eye. He could cure every sickness and every disease in one breath. He could rain down manna on this earth in a second! God literally has all the power and a time will come when he uses it full force (Jesus’ return!!).
Yes, God has all the power, but The Bible also says that suffering remains in this world as a natural response to The Fall. And while God is always working, there is a force working against him. God never forces people to choose to follow Him, and if the world was perfect then we would be a bunch of robots blindly choosing him without free will. But that’s a whole conversation for another time….I digress.
I just love that he chooses to use us. God, the perfect Creator of the Universe chooses to empower imperfect humans with His very own Spirit who gives us authority to pray for healing, cast out demons, love unconditionally, speak truth, and walk with Him every single day!!! A Spirit that is just a guarantee of our full inheritance in heaven…SO COOL!
And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and her sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. [Luke 9:1-2]
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. [Ephesians 1:13-14]
He doesn’t need to use us, but he CHOOSES to use us. If that’s not true love and patience, then I don’t know what is. Even though God has all the power, he chooses to empower his children to do His work. That’s his purpose for us on this earth: to walk with Him, glorify Him, and walk as Jesus walked, doing his work.
Apart from God, I can literally do nothing. Without Jesus in my life, my only hope is what I can see here on earth. Without Jesus, we’re destined to a fleeting, earthly peace, hope, and ultimately death. We’re left feeling like that girl at church, rolling around on the ground with nowhere to go. With Jesus, we’re given everlasting hope, peace, and life with him!
For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. [Romans 7:6]
Spiritual warfare is real and dark and can seem scary at times. But praise God that when you resist the devil, he will flee from you. Praise God that he is a Deliverer and a Restorer of Life. Praise God that Jesus has already won the battle and we are MORE THAN conquerors through Christ!
So as I leave Ethiopia tomorrow, I truly feel like I’m leaving as a new person, seeing God in a new, more awe-inspiring way. I’m truly humbled by the fact that there’s so much that goes on in the spiritual realm that I can’t see. This month has brought a breath of fresh air and a perspective shift on what it truly looks like to walk with Him each and every day.
