In the late 1970s, David Berkowitz, also known at Son of Sam killed at least six people in New York City. Later on, after his arrest, he claimed that he was hearing voices that were telling him to commit murder. We all have watched similar events in movies or in the news. Many people today claim to hear voices in their heads. This can be attributed to mental illness or to the fact that they might be somehow involved in occult practices.
If we are honest, we must confess that all of us hear voices in our heads at one point or another in our lives and most of us hear them on a daily basis. I am referring to the voice of temptation; the voice of fear; the voices of doubt; the voices of deceit and lies and the voices that remind us of our failures.
These and many other similar voices attempt—sometimes successfully—to torment us and to lead us away from the straight and narrow path. These are the thoughts that are replayed over and over in our minds, until we feel defeated and discouraged.
There is another way to deal with these silent, and yet loud voices or thoughts. We may not be able to stop temptations from coming our way, or avoid all evil thoughts from knocking at our door, but we don’t have to give in to temptations or yield to any wicked thought. When the “voices” of our enemies try to infiltrate our souls we must respond decisively by…
“…casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5)
This is the key for victory in our spiritual warfare. We cannot entertain (or be entertained by) evil thoughts and ideas. We cannot allow any unholy idea to enter our mind, thinking that we can control it or play with it without danger or harm. These little ideas are like Trojan Horses, filled with a host of bloodthirsty adversaries, ready to bring chaos and destruction upon us.
Every time an evil thought or temptation tries to “speak” to you, do not listen to it. Cast it down and put it in prison. When you are being tormented by lies, fear, doubts and depression, call on Jesus and He will set you free.
He is the only One that can and will give you victory over the enemy and his fiery darts (Ephesians 6:16). If you notice, the verse says to bring every evil thought into captivity “to the obedience of Christ.” Obedience to Christ and submission to his will empower us to resist the devil in the name of Jesus and win (James 4:7).
Finally, if you and I listen to the Voice of our Good Shepherd, we will follow Him (John 10:27) and walk closer with our Lord. When this happens, we won’t hear the wicked whispers that incite us to sin anymore. Then our adversary will roar like an angry lion to call our attention or intimidate us, but we won’t fall for this obvious trap and the real lion, the Lion of Judah will protect us and lead us to victory.
A.G.
