Tim and I recently finished watching the Harry Potter series. In the story, Voldemort is the most evil wizard who has ever existed. In my mind, he represents evil incarnate or Satan. In one scene, Ron Weasley is trying to destroy a piece of Voldemort’s soul that inhabits the locket of a necklace (long story). As the locket is opened, a black cloud comes swirling out and begins speaking to Ron, knocking him down.
The cloud taunts Ron with his worst fears and where he is most vulnerable, saying things like, “Your friends don’t care about you. They don’t need you. You’re not a part of this. She is in love with Harry. She doesn’t see anything in you.” The cloud even forms itself to look like Harry and Hermione kissing.
Ron has to overcome these dark whispers, rear himself up, burst through the dark cloud and destroy the locket with a sword (picture left). For me, this scene is a very visual representation of the spiritual battles we face as believers.
Scripture says that Satan is “the accuser” (Rev 12:10, Zech 3:1), “father of lies” (John 8:44), and “ruler of darkness” (Eph 6:12), among other names. Just as Voldemort spoke the most seductive, most believable lies to Ron, darkness can overtake our minds and speak lies to us. We must recognize the lies, “fasten on the belt of truth,” and “take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph 6:14,17).
I am learning to identify specific lies or fears, and then counter them with truth, but it is no easy task. When we face hardship, loss, rejection or failure, it is easy to believe our perception of our experiences over God’s truth. It is easy to begin listening to voices that say things like, “You are a disappointment,” “You deserve this,” or “God doesn’t care about you.” However, the truth is that we are his children (Rom 8:15), He created us (Psalm 139:13, Eph 2:10, James 1:18, Jeremiah 1:5), He knows “our inmost being” (Psalm 139), He “sees [us]” (Gen 16:13), and He protects us (2 Sam 22:3).
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| by Jeff Guy from For the Beauty of the Earth |
Psalm 139 is a great example of this process of human lamentation and struggle and the Lord’s protection. I encourage you to read the entire Psalm. I pray that we can identify the voices that the accuser uses against us and counter them with God’s truth. God’s glory is revealed in us when we let him fight our battles and let him redeem us. His light is made manifest on this planet through our acceptance of His love.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you. (Psalms 139:11-12)
for darkness is as light with you. (Psalms 139:11-12)
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