Strong Man

It happened about a year and half ago. My eyes flew open. I looked up at the ceiling of my bedroom and thought Ugh, I wonder how long it’s going to take me to get back to sleep? At least I don’t have to work tomorrow. It was well past midnight, the house was dark and silent except…what was that? A quiet scrape, a little bump. Hmmm…I wonder if one of the kids is raiding the pantry.

I popped out of bed, quietly, and saw that my girls’ doors were closed. I peeked in my teen’s room—all good. She was out. I would be unable to check on my other girls without crossing the open hallway. I decided to edge my way to the corner, realizing that it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that an intruder was in the house. We live in a wonderful neighborhood and have always felt safe here, but, one never knows.

Barely breathing, I worked my way, silently, to the corner. I peeked out over the edge, just to be safe…nothing. I remember exhaling, the tension fleeing from my muscles, as I started to head toward my other daughters’ room. That’s when I made a full stop.

It wasn’t because I ran into one of my daughters. Nor was it an intruder. It was God, well, His voice to be exact. Just as clearly as I heard something bumbling around in my kitchen just moments ago, I heard Him say, “There’s a strong man in the house.”

WHOA! That was enough to really wake me up! A strong man?

The sense I had at the time was that there was a force working against God’s plan from the inside. Trying to bring division and trying to undermine what God is doing (for a biblical reference, look at Mark 3:27). I was given no revelation at that time of any specifics, but this message from the Lord was a clear warning. Be on guard. Be alert. Be ready.

God is always moving and is always purifying. The enemy is always trying to subvert and will always try to turn hearts of those who started out strong and genuine and try to plant those who never were. While this particular message of warning is historically nothing new, it does make me wonder, Why send such a strong message now?

God has also released words to me of great shakings and of purifying His people. The thing is…when God shakes, the only things that crumble and fall are those things that are not of Him. Anything of God is permanent, unshakeable, immovable, and immutable.

The takeaway? Let’s bring ourselves to God, our whole selves, and lay ourselves, facedown, at His feet. Let’s get our hearts aligned with the Lord so we can operate in His way, in His strength, and in His power so we can stand strong against the strong man. A word like this tells me that it will take greater levels of discernment to determine what is truly of God and what is not. It tells me that we need to press in to His presence and listen to His heart even more so we can spot a counterfeit in no time flat because we don’t want to fall prey to the strongman, and in Him, we won’t. In Him we can stand strong and take the strongman out.