In the early part of this year, my whole family had gotten sick with colds. I was so busy nursing on them, that I hadn't really considered the possibility of me getting sick. Rarely do I catch cold or whatever icky viruses make their way around our house from time to time. Well, after everyone else was on the mend, I was so excited that the worst of it was over. My celebration, however, was short-lived. Suddenly I got the chills, my head throbbed, and my body ached. I was burning up with a fever of 103 that kept me pretty messed up for about a week. Not only did I feel terrible, but I also wasn't too thrilled about not having the strength to carry out my normal duties. I'm used to a certain level of activity.
I was so weak.
All I could do was lie around, so I got the bright idea to go on a movie-watching marathon. The genre? Horror flicks of all things! I never typically watch scary movies, especially not the "haunted house" kind. No ma'am. They terrify me. But, for some reason, when I got sick, I just laid in bed and soaked up all that scary junk. I think that fever had possibly fried a few of my brain cells and my mental faculties weren't working properly, because that was just a dumb idea.
After I recovered physically, I soon learned that the mental impact those terrifying films had on my psyche, didn't quite go away. With my grown self, I'm ashamed to admit I was afraid to turn out lights. I thought I was hearing and seeing stuff.
It was ridiculous.
Taking in all that excess craziness had me almost crazy too. As you might imagine, there was a pretty significant spike in my light bill from keeping so many lights on in the house. I couldn't believe that one week of spooky movies, had messed with my head that much. I should have known better.
Let's just say I haven't watched a horror flick since then and thankfully, darkness doesn't seem quite so menacing. It took months to get right, though.
From that experience, I learned that you don't give an audience to foolishness. Otherwise, it will impact you negatively. Whether it's unwholesome entertainment, conversations, or relationships, whatever you surround yourself with, gets in you and has some impact on you.
The enemy knows this all too well; that's why we can't give him an audience. If we make the mistake of doing so, he'll talk to our minds and bombard us with all kinds of things aimed at injecting fear, discouragement, confusion, and frustration into our hearts and minds.
Instead of tuning in, resist, rebuke, and put him in his place. You see, he has no authority over you unless you give it to him. If you give him permission to talk to your mind constantly, without fighting back through the word of God, worship, and praise, you're in trouble. He's always more than happy to fill you up with lies, reinforce stinking thinking, and send you on an emotional roller coaster ride.
All he needs is an audience willing to give him their undivided attention.
Don't do it.
Today, I encourage you instead to do what the Bible says and "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7 KJV). You don't have to take his mess lying down. Get up and seek God. Pull out your sword, which is the word of God and use that power you've got.
You have the authority to overcome the enemy, but you must refuse to play host to him. Understand that, just as those fictional scary movies had the power to terrorize me, even though they aren't real, the same is true of the enemy. Although he'll tell you fictitious things and pass them off as truth, if you soak up what he says, his lies will become more and more real.
Then, before you know it, you will have fully bought in, and God doesn't want that for you or me. That's why we have to guard our hearts and minds. We must spend time with the Lord and allow Him to speak to our hearts. Then and only then, will we be able to recognize the falsehoods and deceptions the enemy tries to pass off as truth and say to him what Jesus said: "Get thee behind me, Satan." (Matthew 16:23)
As always, thanks for reading and until next time... may you be empowered to prosper!
Dianna Hobbs
www.empoweringeverydaywomen.com
