What’s Behind that Curtain?

I was up before the kids, sitting on the couch reading my Bible when I heard a the click of a door opening and someone entering the bathroom. It was about time that someone else woke up, so I wasn’t surprised, but then I heard my five year old son talking to himself in the bathroom. I was a little curious what he might be saying to himself so early in the morning, so I turned down my i pod and eavesdropped. What I heard really surprised me.

Mind you, I wasn’t that surprised that he was talking, considering that he seems to be gifted with the ability to gab nonstop about anything, anywhere, with anyone. But, what might be on his mind so early in the morning? Here’s what I heard: “You can’t come out until I’m all done in here. You have to stay behind the curtain right now until after I leave the bathroom and shut the door. Then you can come out.”

When the little guy sauntered out of the bathroom a few minutes later and came to snuggle me on the couch, I asked him who he was talking to in there. He reluctantly told me that there was a monster behind the shower curtain. Not only was this monster very real to him, but obviously communicative as well. My son was afraid of the monster but somehow he believed that he could talk to it and that would help.

I hadn’t thought much more about that morning until recently when I was up late reading an intense novel about spiritual warfare. I’d also been reading Revelation and I was at the part about the beast and how he wages war against the children of God. In the middle of the night, I found myself on the couch again, but this time I was the one speaking to the dark. I was suddenly very aware that there ARE monsters in the dark; they are real and they are Satan’s emissaries. Fear strengthens in the dark as our imaginations take over for our lack of sight, so I sat paralyzed for just a moment. And then I remembered something!

Yes, Satan is real and yes, he has power in the world and honestly, he is a bit scary. But, God is even more real; He’s alive inside of me and He’s way more powerful than the evil one and all I had to do to was speak into the dark to remind myself of the truth.

I think we need to be reminded sometimes that the battles we face, though usually not the monsters behind the curtain at this stage in life, are often spiritual battles. Paul tells us that “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” But we are not defenseless in this fight, whether it’s thoughts taking hold in our minds (temptations, worldly thinking, fear), or persecution in the workplace, or even the insidious problem of apathy. We have a voice in this battle.

When we speak out against the evil forces around us, verbally recognizing the truth, evil flees and truth reigns. So, I’ve been speaking aloud the name of Jesus, the power of Jesus to change lives and speaking aloud my prayers that God would reign in my home and in my heart.

In the dark, in the middle of the night, I realized that I needed to be reminded that spiritual battles are real, but that I have nothing to fear, because I’m on the winning side.

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