In 1977 I witnessed a horribly gruesome automobile accident. The violence was
indescribable. Being one of the first on the scene, I watched a young man die.
Through the trauma of this event, a spirit of fear tried to overpower me. Using
the indelibly imprinted scene I had witnessed, with relentless tenacity, it
warred against my soul.
I felt fear all the time. I felt fear of being alone, fear of the dark, fear of
the unknown and fear of just about everything imaginable. I couldn't sleep at
night because of the replayed horror I had witnessed and the spirit that was
using it. I knew this was a spirit of fear, trying to use this trauma to create
a stronghold. Somehow I realized if I ever yielded to the fear, it would then
own me. By refusing to act on it, I didn't yield to it but always pushed through
and did what I needed to do in spite of the feelings of fear.
The Holy Spirit made real to me the incredible power of His Word as a sword. He
showed me that I would have to wage allout war against this spirit and the
trauma to my emotions by using "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God" (Eph. 6:17). I obeyed. For close to a month, nearly all the time, I
meditated on and spoke Scriptures concerning freedom from fear. Every possible
moment I kept God's Word on my mind and tongue-I was laying siege, releasing the
anointing.
I believe it took so long because of the incredible trauma to my emotions when I
witnessed the gruesome accident. But one day, as suddenly as it came, the fear
and the spirit left. The Word had made me free, the seeds had born fruit, the
siege was successful.
Hebrews 4:12,13 describes laying siege to the soul with the Word: "For the word
of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing
as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able
to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature
hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him
with whom we have to do."
These wonderful verses give tremendous insight to the transforming ability of
the Scriptures to heal that which needs healing and destroy the strongholds in
the soul. The words "laid bare" in verse 13 are from the Greek word trachelizo,
which literally means "to seize and bend back the neck, exposing the throat, as
with an animal being slaughtered or sacrificed. " The word was also used to
describe battlefield action. Need I say more? Ugly? Yes. Graphic? Very,
But this strong and violent word is describing what His Word can do-not to
us-but to the problem areas of the soul. We are meant to see the power of His
Word and the intensity of our great High Priest against those things in our
souls that work against our well-being and the life of His Spirit.
Watchman Prayer by Dutch Sheets, p. 137-139. Copyright 2000 Gospel Light/Regal
Books, Ventura, CA 93003 Used by Permission
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