Submission of Spirits

“The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name.’” Luke 10:17, NIV.

Periodically Norman*, one of our neighbors, has seizure-like symptoms. His body becomes rigid at times, and at other times he writhes on the ground. On one occasion he passed out, but his body remained completely rigid with no measurable reflexes. We took him to the hospital. The doctor looked him over.

“Medicine won’t cure what’s ailing this man,” said the doctor. “This is something else.” Norman came to on the examining table. It was like he had snapped out of a trance.

Later that week Norman stopped by my house to talk. His recurring sickness was weighing his heart and health down. Norman looked sickly, like something was eating his life away.

“When I was young my uncle told me about a certain place along the river,” shared Norman. “He said that if I wanted power for protection that all I had to do was go to this place at a certain time and bathe. I did, and I felt a power enter into my body. It was three spirits, and the main spirit has the power of a lion, and its manifestation is a lion.”

I asked Norman if he had considered that his sickness may have something to do with the contract he made with these spirits.

Norman shrugged and said, “These fits used to happen on rare occasions. I would call the dukun (a spiritual occultist or witchdoctor), and everything would be fine.” I warned Norman that he had made an agreement with the enemy, and eventually it would destroy him.

Later that same week Norman’s wife came to the house in a panic. Norman was having another attack, and this one was worse than any of the others. Our local staff, myself, and several volunteers that were working with us went with the distraught woman. Norman was writhing on the ground, drool coming down his chin. His hands were curled up like claws, and he was growling and hissing like a lion. This went on for over two hours.

We prayed at the doorway for Norman throughout this episode as his crying wife held their daughter and rocked her in the next room. The volunteers had never encountered anything like this in the U.S. They were scared and began to pray very loudly. The volume and tone of their prayers scared the family and neighbors, who sent for the dukun. As soon as the witchdoctor entered the room, Norman calmed down and immediately returned to normal.

“This spirit submits to my spirit,” explained the dukun.

I asked, “Where does this spirit come from?”

He replied, “There are many spirits in the world, and we tap into their power.”

I said, “There is only One Spirit that has power over all and that’s God through His Son, Jesus. And if you are inviting spirits other than God into you, eventually you too will get sick and be destroyed.”

He immediately changed his story. “I don’t deal with spirits; I deal with God alone,” he said.

I told the witchdoctor that he was not helping the man, but prolonging his problem. The dukun said, “Well, my problem is I have 30 other people who are in the same situation. This is the only power I’ve seen that helps. Personally, I don’t like this system and would like to see it done away with, but this is the only way they can get relief, and I can’t let them down.”

I realized that this man gets paid from these services. I told him again that the relief is only temporary. I shared that Jesus has authority over all the powers and if he’d just submit himself to Him, then he could have power over the enemy. He thought about that, and said he’d like to discuss what I’d said.

Norman agreed to study Scripture with us, but he sees it as spiritual medicine. People, like Norman, will try almost anything to get power and protection from the spiritual forces that they fear. He said, “I’ll do this as long as you don’t try to make me into a Christian.”

I replied, “I am not here to convert you. I am here to share truth with you. Only truth can set you free. What you do with the truth is between you and God.” I don’t believe that Norman will live much longer unless he turns to Jesus and breaks free. How my heart breaks for the people God sent us to reach.

*Names changed for security. This first person account was told by a Last Frontier Missionary serving in the Pacific Rim.

Pray that:

God will display His superior power over demons and empower His servants to bring spiritual healing to people like Norman so that they may hear the truth and be free.

God will transform the hearts of witchdoctors so that they will stop prolonging the sufferings of the people, and instead will bring true healing by pointing them to Jesus.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.