TOPIC: ADDRESS IT

“She kept this up for many days. Finally, Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.” (Acts 16:18NIV)

What got Paul annoyed, as see in our opening bible text? It was the fact that a female slave was following him and his companions up and down and embarrassing them with her fortune telling. As the account goes, it was while Paul and his companions were in Philippi that they came in contact with this young lady. And because she had a spirit of divination in her, she was able to tell that they were servants of the Most High God immediately she saw them. So, she began to follow them everywhere and to announce to everyone who they were.

Now wasn’t that supposed to be a good thing? Should Paul and his men not have been happy that Satan was doing publicity for them? No! God and His people don’t need Satan’s publicity in order to get people to believe or saved, even if he is offering it for free. Why? It is because that will confuse people; it will give them the impression that there is no difference between God and Satan, between God’s children and Satan’s children and between God’s works and Satan’s works.

But God and Satan are different. They don’t stand for the same thing. God is the creator and saviour of all things. Satan is a liar and destroyer of all things. If he, then, begins to publicise God and His works, it is not to honour God but to dishonour Him and give people the impression that they are on the same page. And are they on the same page? No!

Therefore, Jesus would not allow demons to publicise Him or talk about His works when He was here on earth. Instead, He drove them out. In like manner, we have no business encouraging or employing Satan’s publicity. In fact, we have no business ignoring it. Instead, we must always stop him in the name of Jesus. (Cf. Mark 3:11-12)

Sadly, many church leaders don’t understand this. That’s why they freely employ the publicity and even the advertisement of certain men and women who have clearly shown themselves as of the devil in promoting the image of their assemblies or certain programmes they want to hold. And by doing so, they are confusing everyone around them, giving them the impression that there is no difference between God’s kingdom and Satan’s kingdom. They will receive in full the payment for their errors.

Well, as we see in Paul’s case, he too, like Jesus, was not comfortable at all with the publicity of Satan through that slave girl. But unlike Jesus, he and his companions did not immediately do anything about her matter. Perhaps they had felt that the girl would soon get tired of following them and find something else to do. But she did not. On the contrary, she made it her personal business to follow them everyday and trouble their ministry with her satanic publicity. In fact, Luke says that she did this for many days.

Now when Paul saw that the problem this lady was giving them would not naturally disappear or go away with time, he addressed it. He addressed the demon in the lady that was responsible for the problem, in the name of Jesus. And that same minute, he left her. So, she was free and they too were free from her embarrassment.

In like manner, there are problems that won’t solve themselves or go away, if we won’t address them. Such problems will continue to embarrass or torment us until we are utterly frustrated. So, instead of watching them and allowing them to drive us crazy or take away our joy, we must address them in the name of Jesus. And when we do, they will meet their end.

But then, observe that when Paul was going to deal with that lady that was giving them trouble, he did not curse her or ask her to die. Why? He knew that she wasn’t their real enemy. The spirit of divination in her was their real enemy. So, it was that spirit that he addressed and drove out.

In the same vein, we are not to make anybody our enemy and be praying to God to kill or destroy them, even though they are giving us serious problems. Instead, we are to address the spirits pushing them or using them to work against us. And once we do that, they will be delivered and we too will have our peace.

Remember that the bible says:

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12NIV)

So, know your real enemy in every battle of life. That way, you will not be wasting your time fighting the symptoms of your problems instead of their real cause.

Enjoy your day.