Wrestling with God

 “You have been put to no test but such as is common to man: and God is true, who will not let any test come on you which you are not able to undergo; but he will make with the test a way out of it, so that you may be able to go through it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13

“Father! You have promised not to give us more than we can handle….I claim that promise now!” My cry was lost in the tumult surrounding me – some praying out loud, some singing, other reading Bible passages at the tops of their voices.

Throughout my 23 short years, I have never in my life wrestled so physically with the power of Satan as I did that night.

It started on a Monday night with two girls sleeping in a hut. The door was flung open with such force that it crashed against the wall and they awoke to see ‘someone’ standing in the door. Immediately, they became unresponsive to human voices – screaming, moaning, talking to things that we could not see, and thrashing around with incredible strength.

Minan, Kyle, Brian, Timothy, Tina, Shama, Kiana, Kar, myself, and several Palawano gathered at the house to sing and pray around the prostrate girls. None of us could fathom why this had happened to them – they were both baptized, believing member’s   and even in their shrieks were called out to “Empu” (God). We prayed, read, and sang at their house for nearly three hours until the girls had calmed down a little. Around midnight several of us walked home while a few stayed behind to spend the night.

All throughout the next day the girls continued to go in and out of consciousness and sessions of struggle. As evening fell, it was decided to move them to the school so that more of us could gather and we would continue to pray and sing there.

As the night darkened, it seemed to me that all hell broke loose. I cannot describe neither the blood curdling shrieks nor the terror of seeing them flail and kick fighting against something only they could see. Then, unbelievably, one after another began in the same way.  By three in the morning, there were 13 people being attacked.

You cannot imagine the scene unless you’ve been there: each person surrounded by others holding them down so they wouldn’t hurt themselves, people prayed – aloud and silently, and others were singing. Above the noise of song and prayer rose the screams and cries of those struggling. It got so terrible  that Kiana and I wondered aloud to each other at one point during that night if Jesus might not come that night.

It was terrifying to think that the person next to you might be the next one. There came a point in the night where I couldn’t pray any more – there just weren’t any more words for me to pray. It was all I could do to claim Romans 8:26:

“And in the same way the Spirit is a help to our feeble hearts: for we are not able to make prayer to God in the right way; but the Spirit puts our desires into words which are not in our power to say.”

But above the tumult and confusion of that night one thought remained central in all of our minds: Jesus has already won this battle. Satan is fighting so hard because it’s his last desperate struggle. He knows that these children have committed themselves to Jesus and it makes him furious. Even in the midst of their torment, they would call out to Jesus to save them.

When the stars finally faded and the darkness began to slip behind the distant hills, I felt that with Jacob I had wrestled all night.  As the dawn broke and shadows slid away, I felt the spirits of darkness recede.

Looking around the room from one exhausted face to the other, I praised the Lord for each one of them. I couldn’t have made it through that night without the knowledge that Jesus was right next to me and our team of missionaries was praying along with me for the Spirit of God to fill that room.

The battle did not end with that night; it continued for nearly a week though never did we experience a night like that again. But with each day, it became more and more apparent that the Satan was losing ground that he would never again regain.

“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” 1 Peter 1:7

I have been tried and I pray that I have come out stronger on the other side.

Coming from the United States, I always knew that the devil wanted to control our lives and hold us fast in his clutches. I also always knew that Jesus wants to protect us from this if we only ask Him. But I had to come to the Philippines to see the actual real struggle between Michael and His angels and Satan and his.

Though not as blatant in the US, Satan still seeks to control us. The very fact that it is not as apparent makes the struggle that more dangerous. He can control areas and we don’t even know it.

I’ll never forget that night and by God’s grace I’ll never be the same person. I pray that while I may not have a physical reminder of my night of wrestling like Jacob, I might hereafter have a ‘limp’ to remind me of Who has blessed me and Who can sustain me day by day and  that it will cause me to lean even more upon Him who alone can keep me from falling.