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"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 16:18)
In Acts 16, Paul and Silas find themselves in prison. Before they get thrown in jail, however, they come into contact with a girl who is in a far deeper bondage then they will soon find themselves in. In fact, freeing her is ironically what causes them to temporarily lose their own freedom and get thrown into prison.
Read the first part of the story from Acts 16:16-18 here:
"Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, 'These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.' 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."
Was Paul annoyed with the girl herself? No, because when he decided to say something, he addressed the spirit which was afflicting her, and not the girl herself. Paul saw through the concrete circumstances to see the spiritual battle that was truly at play.
We also need to shift our focus sometimes to see what is going on spiritually in a situation and not only consider what we can plainly see with our eyes. When dealing with difficult people, stop and pray for God's eyes in the situation. I'm not implying that the difficult people in your life are all afflicted by the demonic, but lost people act like lost people, and this shouldn't surprise us. Instead of being angry at their actions, maybe have compassion on them and introduce them to Jesus who can change their hearts.
Paul spoke with apostolic authority and cast the demon out of the girl. But do not marvel at Paul's having cast out a demon; marvel that the name of Jesus makes demons flee! The name of Jesus is powerful because Jesus is powerful. We aren't seeing here that Paul employs the name of Jesus as some magic word to cast out a demon. Rather, he appeals to the all-powerful One, knowing that He is the only One with the authority and strength over evil spirits to force them to leave immediately.
This was good news for the girl who was afflicted in Acts 16, and it is good news for us today.
Growing up I often saw this little image of a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other in so many movies and television shows. This image teaches the idea of this constant cosmic battle where you're never really sure who is going to pull off the victory. But this is not what the Bible teaches us at all. There is no struggle happening between God and Satan. God does not struggle. Verse 18 says, "At that moment the spirit left her." Just like that, Jesus has the authority over all forces of darkness.
Whatever is tempting you or troubling you today, know that Jesus is more than capable of handling it. Nothing and nobody holds any power over Him.
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