There are
two metal artwork signs displayed around the back patio of our home. One is placed above our back door and reads in
decorative script “Bless This Home and All Who Enter Here” and the other one is
placed above our dog leash hanger and has a beautiful dove displayed with its
wing outstretched and the verse Psalm 91:4
“He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find
refuge.” I was excited to purchase these
about a year ago because the minute I saw them I truly felt they genuinely
reflected the hospitality of our home and our heartfelt need to make everyone who
visits feel welcome. I had no idea how
real these signs would indeed become to our family and to our home.
We jokingly
refer to our home to our out of town family as the BB&B, which stands for Bullard
Bed and Breakfast, as it is always open
for them to come and visit. We were excited
back in May, as my mother in law and brother in law were coming for a week’s
visit to attend my daughter’s freshman tennis banquet. Their rooms were ready and we were excited
about their arrival.
As strange
as this is going to sound, it was obvious from the moment he stepped into our
home that my brother in law was not the only “being” in his body. I have heard of spiritual warfare and have experienced
it on a small level, but never before to the magnitude that would unfold over
the next few days.
It started
out as this sort of invisible tornadic activity within him that entered our low
maintenance, drama free home. However, within
one afternoon you could see that this evil spirited tornado was apparent and
would be with us until the night before his departure. It upset our entire family – including my
daughter, who dearly loves her uncle but because of the unhappiness in his
heart which was TRYING to dictate unhappiness in our home, she was ready for
him to leave.
I think it
would be safe for me to say that for most of his life, he has relied on others
to make him happy and in spite of praying the sinner’s prayer (numerous times)
he has never really surrendered his life to Jesus. During his visit, he attended church with us
and as usual, our pastor preached a sermon that could not be more perfect - John 14:2 “In my Father's house are many
mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for
you.” Our pastor’s emphasis was on the
home in your heart where Jesus lives and that you should never be “homeless”… homeless
without Jesus. My mother in law sat in
tears during that sermon because it could not have been more timely or more
perfect. However, to our disappointment
it was not well received by him. In
fact, the next day, he seemed more outraged than before.
Behind my
sweet smile, this low drama girl had seen the devil in her home long enough and
it was time to see him go! If you really
know me, you know that I don’t do confrontation. I will throw my southern sugar coated spin on
it to get a point across. But, let me
just tell you at that moment, I DID confrontation! After all, I was not confronting my brother
in law, I was confronting the devil. I
let him know that under no circumstances were the demons within him no longer
welcome in our home and that in the end, the devil would not win anyway. He shook his hands in the air at me with
frustration and asked me what he needed to do since he’d already prayed the
sinner’s prayer several times. It was in
that very moment, I felt the Holy Spirit within me and I grabbed a hold of him
and through the tears prayed for him to feel the love of Jesus and for the
demons to release his life. And a
release is what it was for the both of us – at least at that moment in time. The sweetest thing I will remember from that
night was when my husband kissed me on the cheek and said, “That was a lot
harder than teaching a sixth grade girl on Sunday at Sunday School, huh?” I smiled as a tear ran down my cheek knowing
I had his full support and approval. He
later said that the BB&B had been transformed to a mission that particular
week.
My brother
in law is still in the process of “finding himself” and learning how to trust
God. I am in prayer for a complete
surrender and a life for him that is filled with the simpleness of God’s peace
and love. In reflecting back on it, that
whole experience was growth for me. You
see, growing up, my brother, Britt, and I grew up in a home where it was easier
to go with the flow than to ever cause conflict. Well, I had just faced conflict AND
confrontation. I could not wait to call my brother to share in my confrontation
experience because of all the people in the world, he would get me. I could feel his smile through his words over
the phone which made my heart happy.
I can now answer
the question to the title of this blog entry first hand. Yes, I have smelled the breath of the devil
and faced his fire first hand! It’s no
match for my God. Psalm 91:4 “He will cover you with his feathers, and
under his wings you will find refuge.”
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