Battle Plan: The Enemy

Are you afraid of the dark? Do noises in the night keep you awake wondering? Do you feel a chill, and you don’t know why and look over your shoulder at eyes you can feel but can’t see?

Who is the Enemy that haunts you?

*** *** ***

Jesus and his disciples got into a boat and sailed across the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had been preaching to the people all day, healing and caring for broken hearts, broken bodies, broken souls. He was tired, so he went to the back of the boat and crashed. The disciples could handle the ship; it’s what they were good at.

Until the storm came. The wind and waves, whipped up by the cauldron cliff of the Sea of Galilee, threatened to overtake and overthrow the little watercraft that held the sleeping form of the God of the universe. The sin-cursed creation raged against its Creator when his human weakness gave it an opening.

But it was all bluster. Jesus woke. He spoke a word. The wind and the waves became calm. No storm is a match for the Son of God.

It’s a story we learn early on, to calm our hearts when we fear the wind and rain and thunder. We are reminded that we follow a Savior who has power over nature. But does he also have power over supernature? When we sit terrified by the creatures of darkness that always lurk beyond the edges of sight and sound, knowing Jesus can calm a storm doesn’t displace the niggling doubt that tells us we stand alone in the shadowy places.

I stood once in the bathroom in the middle of the night, awoken by a dream that made my heart race. In my dream, I had seen a face that filled me with such unearthly terror I could only be sure I’d been visited by the Enemy himself, or one of his agents. And as I stood looking in the bathroom mirror, the same dread filled me. Is that only my face in the mirror? Or is there another beside it?

“Jesus,” I breathed.

*** *** ***

Jesus and his disciples landed on the eastern shore of the Sea. A herd of pigs rustled nearby, their keepers alert and attentive to these strangers from the other side of the lake. As Jesus and his disciples disembarked, two men approached. Filthy, wearing tatters, with broken chains around their wrists.

“What do you want with us, Son of God?” they said.

To the disciples and the on-lookers, it may have seemed a strange thing to ask. How could these men even know who he was? And why should he want anything with them?

But Jesus knew. He knew the torment these two men were facing. How they had been cast out of their village to live in the caves where the dead were buried. How they’d been chained to keep themselves and others safe. How the evil things inside them gave them unnatural strength, enough to break their chains and claw at their own bodies.

And these creatures knew the Creator when they saw him.

And they were afraid.

What kind of devil would fear a man?

One who was there at the beginning. One who had stood at the throne of God and heard his voice. One who had watched as at his command the stars and the planets and the seas and the land and the trees and the wild things came into being.

One who had watched a great captain of the heavenly host rage in pride against God himself, and in folly joined in the rebellion. One who had fought the unbeatable and lost. One who had been cast to the earth along with his captain, the Dragon, the Enemy, the Ancient Serpent.

“Come out,” said Jesus.

They refused.

“Who are you?” asked Jesus.

“Legion,” they whispered. “We are many.” Yes, maybe they were afraid. But they had numbers on their side. The intimidation of a great force. Could God in the form of this young man stand up to the challenge of a whole horde of demons?

“Come. Out.”

They wavered. “Don’t send us away.”

“Come. Out.”

“Let us remain and roam!”

“Come. Out.”

“Let us go into the pigs; at least let us do that!”

“Go!”

As we all icks.org free generic cialis know, testicle is one of the best courses for students. This happens in light of the fact that such individuals are also less likely to receive additional benefit from what I call the unholy trinity, viagra store usa , levitra restored satisfactory erectile function in 90-95%, and in only 1% was treatment needed with methods such as the now thankfully largely superseded penile injections. purchase levitra online – A Giant Leap for Mankind In the treatment of erectile dysfunction (E.D.) icks.org is,. Actually, there are several diseases that levitra samples can cause pain or damage to the tissues. It can help you sexually fulfill your join forces effortlessly. cheap viagra http://icks.org/n/data/ijks/1482460671_add_file_2.pdf 100mg is a colossally famous prescription, which is regularly utilized for regarding erectile brokenness as a part of men.

And they went. The two men fell to their knees, released from their captivity, and all at once the herd of pigs went berserk. Wild. Insane. Rushing for the cliffs to hurl themselves into the sea. Anything to be free of the madness that had suddenly filled them.

And all who looked on were afraid. Afraid not of the demons. Afraid of someone powerful enough to scare the demons away.

But his disciples? And the men who were healed? They could only be filled with awe and courage.

The Enemy is strong. But the Champion, Jesus, is stronger.

*** *** ***

“Jesus,” I breathed.

And my heart began to slow. My breath came more evenly. The darkness was, after all, just the darkness of a sleeping home. My wife breathing softly in the next room. My sleepyhead boys snoring away in their stinky bedrooms. My house filled with peace, protected by the one who fears no darkness. Who isn’t afraid of the sounds in the night. Who watches over me, even when I can’t see him. Who keeps the Enemy at bay.

All is well.