“What supernatural event from the Bible is your favorite?  Why?”  These questions were posed at our community/home Bible study group this past week.

Wow!

Those are not easy questions—there are so many miraculous events to consider, how do you choose?  For example, what can be greater than an all-powerful God speaking the worlds into existence?  …and that same God offering every person alive the opportunity to have a personal relationship with Him?

Consider the supernatural power of God when the waters of the Red Sea parted and the children of Israel were able to cross through the midst of the sea on dry land.  …and God continues to work miraculously to deliver His people from oppression and bondage.

We cannot possibly forget about the miraculous birth of Jesus to the young virgin, Mary, or the feeding of at least five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish.

I recognize that Christendom’s most significant supernatural event is the resurrection of Jesus—no other act of God offers so much hope, so much promise of life, both now and throughout eternity.  “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).

However, a different instance of God’s sovereign power at work came to mind when I read those questions—it is recorded in the seventeenth chapter of Matthew’s gospel.  When Jesus and His disciples arrived in Capernaum, the temple tax collectors asked Peter, ‘Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?’  He said, ‘Yes.’  And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, ‘What do you think, Simon?  From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?’  Peter said to Him, ‘From strangers.’  Jesus said to him, ‘Then the sons are free.  Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first.  And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you” (Matthew 17:24-27).

I understand that these few verses hold a key to Jesus’ identity, but that is not what grabs my heart when I think about this amazing account.  Instead, this story reminds me that the one who spoke the world into existence has amazing, inconceivable ways to provide for His people.  His creativity and resources exceed our comprehension—our thoughts and imaginations are so limited when it comes to God’s ways of taking care of us.  I am learning to release my opinions and expectations, so that I can experience the joy of His surprising ways.

Most people have a curiosity about or fear of the unseen, supernatural realm.  Satan and his cohorts have a way of making the demonic domain intriguing, captivating inquisitive minds with spiritualism, ghosts, hauntings, the occult, astrology, Ouija boards, fortunetellers, witchcraft, vampires, and zombies, to name a few of his traps.  There is no harmless dabbling, visual exposure, or ventures into darkness without effects on the minds and souls of people—I bring this up because Halloween is approaching.  As much as I resist writing about holidays or current events, the Holy Spirit quickened to my heart the fact that most people exhibit a fascination with the unseen realm; however, we need to be careful about the things we expose our lives to, and the hearts and minds of our family members.  “You are all sons of light and sons of the day.  We are not of the night nor of darkness.  Therefore let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:5, 6).

The prophet Isaiah warned, “Stand now with your enchantments and the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth—Perhaps you will be able to profit, perhaps you will prevail.  You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; let now the astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators stand up and save you from what shall come upon you.  Behold, they shall be as stubble, the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame; it shall not be a coal to be warmed by nor a fire to sit before! (Isaiah 47:12-14).

There is power in darkness—“…giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.  He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:12-14)—that attracts the unsuspecting.  Yet through fully equipping ourselves with armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) we are able to stand “against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual host of wickedness in heavenly places” (v. 12).

There are some defining characteristics between the kingdom of God and the demonic realm—the most obvious is the contrast between light and darkness.  “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.  And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.  For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret” (Ephesian 5:8-12).

The contrast between the hope of life and a focus on death:  Jesus said, “I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:9, 10).

Many demonic devices inspire emotional responses from an undercurrent of fear to outright terror—many people are obsessed with being frightened and scaring others; however, fear resides in the spiritual domain and Christians are wise not to feed it.  “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).  And, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.  But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:18, 19).

This time of year many people encourage themes and engage in activities that promote, whether subtly or intentionally, the kingdom of darkness.  Be wise in your choices because we have an enemy who is pacing the earth “like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1Peter 5:8).