Reluctant to Share
There are several reasons why some may be reluctant to share deceptive thoughts in their minds. First, they won’t divulge what is going on inside if they suspect that you don’t believe them, or don’t understand. There is an opening story in The Bondage Breaker about a young lady who attended a Wednesday evening service I spoke at. I was teaching on 1 Tim. 4:1, “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits, and doctrines (teachings) of demons.”
I had a crowd around me asking a lot of questions when an usher broke through and said he needed my help right away. I followed him to a young lady who wouldn’t talk to anyone else. She kept saying, “He understands. He understands.” I was the first person she ever told about her “guardians,” as she called them. Two demonic personalities occupied her mind since she was three years old. She had become an extremely disciplined Marine to cope with the mental battle, but that can last only so long.
Those hearing voices or struggling with obsessive thoughts don’t want anybody questioning their sanity, which is what will happen in the secular world (and unfortunately in many of our churches). Many people fear insanity and know they will be medicated if they tell a counselor or doctor that they are hearing voices, or struggling with blasphemous, condemning thoughts. The value of helping people distinguish between mental illness and a spiritual battle for their mind can’t be over stated. The easiest way to distinguish one from the other is to ask, “Did you make a conscious choice to think those thoughts, and/or do you agree with those thoughts?” Most people will emphatically say, no. That is a very positive indicator that they have been paying attention to deceiving spirits. Such clarification brings immediate release and hope, because we can get rid of the thoughts. While going through the Steps to Freedom one inquirer suddenly stopped and said, Do you know what I am hearing now? The smile on her face said it all. She knew those thoughts were not hers, and that was the end of the battle.
Some are reluctant to share because demonic thoughts are often vulgar, and therefore embarrassing. They hear words that Christians don’t like to repeat, and I don’t ask them to do that more than once. The point of sharing the thoughts is to bring them into the light. As soon as they are exposed the pretense of power is broken. It is just a thought, which has no power over them unless they believe and obey it.
Dr. Neil
For Spanish, see http://www.ficmm.org/blog
