Weekend: A Tale of Two Deliverances
The sword of the Spirit is a powerful offensive weapon given to every believer by the living God. This sword is His Word and is exercised under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Not one word or syllable of God’s Word is devoid of power, and when initiated by the leading of the Holy Spirit, it will surely hit the bull’s-eye and accomplish what God intended it to do.
God is able to quicken His Word to the heart of the newest believer, and when that Scripture is prayed or spoken with faith, it will achieve God’s purpose.
I’ve learned a bit about the utilization of God’s Word as an offensive weapon through the years, often by trial and error.
The main thing I’ve learned is that when I am confronted with impending trouble or disaster, I must lean heavily upon the Spirit of God. He always has a way of escape for me; my job is to check in with Him to find out what it is. If I mechanically press the “Gospel button” of my choice, then I assign myself as the one in charge of how I’m rescued, not the Lord. When I am facing sudden danger, I must let Him lead. Let me explain by presenting to you this Tale of Two Deliverances.
Deliverance Number One
Many years ago, I was handing out tracts with a group of friends outside of Busch Stadium, home of the baseball Cardinals. In front of Stan “the Man” Musial’s statue, a friend and I were talking with a scraggly young man who was standing with his back to the curb. A strange look came over his face as he leaned in toward us and snarled, “Have you ever considered that you would be martyred for your faith?”
Up from my insides, I spoke the words I heard: “At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:11 and 12 just filtered up from my spirit and flowed out of my mouth! The sword of the Spirit was in operation.
But the next thing that happened left my friend Cat and me with dropped jaws. The man, leaning into us and threatening one minute, collapsed backward the next, onto the hood of the car parked behind him at the curb. Some of the guys in our group approached us just then and asked if we wanted them to take over. Cat and I, who were punching each other in the thigh in shock—that really happened? left the fallen man to the guys.
Deliverance Number Two
God has been good to me and has gotten me out of a lot of dangerous–and potentially deadly–situations. Another time He helped me did not play out the way I thought it should. You see, I was in awe of what He had done for me in front of Musial’s statue, and I decided that the Scripture that rose up within me that night was my secret weapon. Philippians 2:11-12 is amazingly wonderful, and every time I read it, I think about how God displayed His might that night at Busch.
One 4th of July, three of us were returning from a city-wide fireworks display. Traffic in the park was bumper to bumper, just inching along, and we had the windows rolled down. A young man in the park, all liquored-up, was screaming into the grid-locked traffic, “ROCK AND ROLL!!!” He and I caught eyes, and he yelled at me, “DO YOU LOVE ROCK AND ROLL?!?”
I looked at him out of the passenger window, and as he approached the car, I said, “I love Jesus.”
He lost his mind. Cursing, he grabbed me and attempted to pull me out of the window. Ah hah! I thought. I get to use my secret weapon again! and I quoted Philippians 2:11-12 as he continued to yank away. Instead of letting go of me as I expected, he became even more enraged and pulled harder.
Hmmm….this is not good, I thought, and quietly listened to the Holy Spirit within me to hear what to do next. With the upper half of my body being wrenched out of the window, I began to pray in tongues out loud, looking him in the eyes as I did so. I don’t know who was more shocked of the two of us, because he instantly let go and jerked away in disgust.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhrrrrrrrgggghhhhh!” he bellowed. “You’re WEEEEIIRRD!!!!” And off he fled into the night. I squirmed back into the car, but not before he poured the rest of his beer on my head and the windshield.
My Take Away
As I reflected on the two tales of deliverance I experienced, I started to realize something. God doesn’t necessarily perform according to our script!
1 Corinthians 12:4-6 says, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.” If God has a variety of gifts, ministries, and effects, would He not also undertake deliverance for us in a variety of ways? Indeed, God never changes, and Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever; but He works out His wonders in a multitude of ways. The key here is: He does work wonders for us.
Your job and mine is to trust, ask the Lord for help, listen, and then obey whatever He shows us to do.
May God show you His wonderful delivering power as you hold fast His Word, listen for the leading of His Spirit, and lean heavily upon Him.
Dorothy