Last Sunday we started a new series at Grace Church called “Ghostbusters” as we take four weeks to study what the Bible teaches about ghosts. We saw that the spirit world is teeming with life. After all, God is spirit and He has created multiple billions of angels, some of which rebelled and became demons. We saw that even in Jesus’ day there was a belief in ghosts. When Jesus was walking on the water, the disciples thought He was a ghost. After His resurrection He asked the disciples to give him some food to eat so that He could prove to them that He had a body and was not a ghost. But are ghosts real?
As far back as I can remember into my childhood I lived with a great fear at night. This fear stemmed from the fact that most every night I would be visited in my bedroom by what appeared to be a woman dressed in Bible type garb like you would picture Mary wearing during a Christmas or Easter play. Oddly, her face was never recognizable. It appeared totally blacked out. She never spoke either. She just stood in the doorway of my bedroom or at the foot of my bed and watched me. Now this was not a dream. I would be wide awake and this womanly figure would definitely be in my room.
I was so scared that I couldn’t scream. I never told my parents about this nightly visitor because I thought they would most certainly think I was crazy. I often wondered myself if I was crazy. This fear created a specific bedtime ritual for me. Each night before going to bed I would check in my closet, under my bed and behind the dresser to make sure I was alone. Even in the hot humid months of summer when the temperature was unbearable and we did not have air conditioning, I would sleep with the covers pulled up over my head, sweating profusely. But most every night this lady visitor still appeared.
The fear and the nightly visitations lasted into my young adult years. Even at college when I was in a room with three other roommates, this woman would still appear most every night. Marriage did not change this either. Through the first 3 to 4 years of my marriage, when I would wake up in the middle of the night, this woman would be standing in my bedroom. I never told anyone even as an adult. I did not tell my roommates in college and I did not even tell my own wife. As an adult I still feared being alone at night. The times my wife would go away and I would have to sleep by myself were nights when I would keep the hallway light on, but still this woman appeared.
One day I was reading a book called “Bondage Breaker” by Neil Anderson in my office at the church where I served as Youth Pastor. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. In this book, the author tells stories from his many years of counseling that were identical to the horror I had lived my entire life. As I read, I began to cry like I have never cried before in my life. For the first time in nearly 25 years I finally found someone who understood. I finally realized that I was not crazy. For the first time in my life I could identify exactly what was happening and, more importantly, for the first time I had hope that I could be set free from the bondage I had been living. In my blog tomorrow I will tell more about what this visitor was and how I believe it became a part of my life.
As far back as I can remember into my childhood I lived with a great fear at night. This fear stemmed from the fact that most every night I would be visited in my bedroom by what appeared to be a woman dressed in Bible type garb like you would picture Mary wearing during a Christmas or Easter play. Oddly, her face was never recognizable. It appeared totally blacked out. She never spoke either. She just stood in the doorway of my bedroom or at the foot of my bed and watched me. Now this was not a dream. I would be wide awake and this womanly figure would definitely be in my room.
I was so scared that I couldn’t scream. I never told my parents about this nightly visitor because I thought they would most certainly think I was crazy. I often wondered myself if I was crazy. This fear created a specific bedtime ritual for me. Each night before going to bed I would check in my closet, under my bed and behind the dresser to make sure I was alone. Even in the hot humid months of summer when the temperature was unbearable and we did not have air conditioning, I would sleep with the covers pulled up over my head, sweating profusely. But most every night this lady visitor still appeared.
The fear and the nightly visitations lasted into my young adult years. Even at college when I was in a room with three other roommates, this woman would still appear most every night. Marriage did not change this either. Through the first 3 to 4 years of my marriage, when I would wake up in the middle of the night, this woman would be standing in my bedroom. I never told anyone even as an adult. I did not tell my roommates in college and I did not even tell my own wife. As an adult I still feared being alone at night. The times my wife would go away and I would have to sleep by myself were nights when I would keep the hallway light on, but still this woman appeared.
One day I was reading a book called “Bondage Breaker” by Neil Anderson in my office at the church where I served as Youth Pastor. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. In this book, the author tells stories from his many years of counseling that were identical to the horror I had lived my entire life. As I read, I began to cry like I have never cried before in my life. For the first time in nearly 25 years I finally found someone who understood. I finally realized that I was not crazy. For the first time in my life I could identify exactly what was happening and, more importantly, for the first time I had hope that I could be set free from the bondage I had been living. In my blog tomorrow I will tell more about what this visitor was and how I believe it became a part of my life.
2 comments:
I couldn't agree more with what you are sharing and teaching here! God is so awesome and never planned for us to live a life of fear. Yet we so often let ourselves be influenced by what is not good. The spirit-world is real and only in Christ can we be safe.
Amen, Christian. And those of you who have served as missionaries in other parts of the world probably know the reality of these truths better than we who live here in the States ever will. Blessings to you and your family, brother. I am excited thaat Mike and Joan will be part of the Philipine's coalition meeting in CA with you this weekend!
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