The following is a guest post by my friend Fred Saada. You can learn more about Fred at the bottom of this article.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. –Ephesians 6:12
Call for a Chaplain
The phone rang around midnight and I was notified that the Sheriff had requested a chaplain for a suicide. I got myself together as quickly as I could and responded. Arriving at the home I was informed that a young man, thirty years old, had committed suicide while his girlfriend and her six year old were in the house. Attending to the girlfriend and her family became my priority, their pain beyond understanding unless one had experienced similar tragedy. It was evident that this was not only an emotional battle but a heavy spiritual battle against the forces of evil. An evil that is obsessed with destroying lives and would go to any lengths to do it. After ministering to the family on scene and making sure that they were as secure as could be for the evening, I was informed that the mother and father of the young man lived in a town nearby, and that two police officers would meet me at their residence to tell the parents about their son’s death. On my twenty minute drive to their home I was impressed to continue in prayer even more than normal. This battle with evil was only just beginning and as I would look back on it later, the prayer was necessary ammunition to fight the armies of darkness that night.
Close Encounter
I met the two police officers at the family home, by now it was two in the morning. We knocked several times and after a short introduction, we were invited in but as I followed the father into the house he said, loudly, “I have a gun!” Then he proceeded into the living room. The two officers and I followed, and one of the officers directed him to put away the gun, and to get his wife. The man did not respond so the officer said it again but he still didn’t comply. A third time he was directed to give up his weapon, but instead of complying he began to scream, “my son, he is dead, my son, he is dead!”
In A Moment Of Time
He continued on like this until, without thinking of the gun in his hand, I said to him, “Yes sir, your son is dead, please go get your wife.” He stopped yelling and went to his room. A moment later he came out with his wife. I proceeded to minister to them and was pleased to find out that they were Christians and attended a solid church. Their pain was evident but so was their hope and strong faith in Christ. After we wound down our conversation and had a time of prayer, the two officers and I left the home. As we stood outside, the weight of what had happened really hit us. In a brief moment of time we averted a catastrophic ending to our notification. Any wrong move by the distraught father with the gun would have started a chain reaction that might have left one or more injured or killed. The plan was evident, the enemy was not just satisfied with a death and giving bad news to this family but was also interested in causing a tragic ending to an already horrible early morning. That night we stood in the middle of evil’s plan to completely destroy this family, to put an end to their Christian witness in this dark world.
The Spirit’s Influence
On my drive home it came to me why I was so impressed to pray more than the usual. It was the prompting of the Holy Spirit because He knew what was around the corner. He knew that we were not wrestling with flesh and blood but with a demonic army interested in the destruction of lives. I thank God that he went before us and prepared our way so that no one else would be injured or killed. And even though the pain of the family was great, how much greater it could have been if it were not for divine protection.
Fred Saada is the Executive Chaplain for the Rogue Valley Chaplains Association. You can also visit the Rogue Valley Chaplains Association on the Rogue Valley Chaplains Facebook Page.
[Image via dawnmichele, Creative Commons]
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Wow, a compelling story. Such anguish and pain brought about by the one who seeks nothing but the full annihilation of the human race.
We so need to be “in tune” with the Holy Spirit and paying attention to all that is around us.
Thank you for sharing this article Kurt, thank you for writing it Fred.
God bless each of you
Greg