“Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, ‘It has come at last–salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth–the one who accuses them before our God day and night'” (Revelation 12.10 NLT).
I watched Stephen King’s Dark Tower with my husband. Although the movie is a sci-fi kind of western, there were many accurate points of spirituality. This movie was by no means biblical, but I find it interesting how the imprint of eternity is in all of us, and it bleeds into everything we create (Ecclesiastes 3.11). Stephen King as a writer has eternity set within him even if he recognizes it or not, and I see whispers of eternal truths in this story.
The first point in this movie is the enemy’s attack on children. I think we as parents can get so busy that we neglect taking the time to truly connect with our kids. The enemy is aggressively trying to draw our children away. We have indeed “forgotten the face of our father” — our Heavenly Father, which on earth is revealed in the image of Jesus Christ. Because we are forsaking God, our children are becoming easy prey to the enemy’s desire to hurt and distract God’s people while they are still so young.
This theme correlates with a dream I had a few years ago. I was at a college campus, talking with what looked like a normal, middle aged woman. There were broken computers on the floor all around her. I asked her why the computers were broken, and she said, “We have left the computers to live in the children. They have a happy place that we like.” I realized that this woman was a demon, and she was pleased with the new homes she and her cohorts were claiming–our kids.
The second point is the fact that the enemy is always shaming us. In the movie, Matthew McConaughey gives a chilling performance as the main demon. And he loves shaming people and forcing them to be overtaken with negative feelings and thoughts, like fear, anger, despair, hate, etc. Once he can get the people to accept these negatives feelings and thoughts, they lose their power.
As Christians, we have the choice of what we allow into our hearts and minds. We can capture our every emotion and thought and filter it through Jesus Christ, allowing His Truth to stop all the muck from entering our minds and souls (2 Corinthians 10.5). I know that best way for me to filter negative thoughts and feelings is to read the Gospels, especially the Book of John. As I read His Word, the presence of Jesus confronts the enemy’s attack on my behalf. This is why I have to read Scripture every day.
The third point I found in the movie is the fact that spiritual warfare is real and rampant today. We lose the battle automatically if we are ignorant of it. Much like the mom in this movie who didn’t believe her son’s prophetic dreams, we do a disservice to ourselves and our families by our indifference. It’s not “if” we and our families get spiritually attacked; it’s “when.” So many times we are under spiritual attack externally or internally and we blame it on our circumstances or emotions. Yes, sometimes life is just hard, but we must face the fact that Satan despises us and he will do whatever it takes bring us down (2 Corinthians 2.11).
Satan and his horde of demons have been on this earth a lot longer than we have. They can take one glance our way and know instantly what buttons they can push to deter us from God’s best plan for our lives. And they will use any tactic available to them. The only consistency in their battle efforts is to make us feel unloved, unvalued, and hopeless. These are not the things that Jesus died to give us. Jesus sacrificed His life to give us zōē, which is the Greek word for abundant life. We have power in Christ when we cling onto the truth that we are sons and daughters of loving God and Jesus is the firstborn among us (Galatians 3.26 and Colossians 1.15).
“The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows]” (John 10.10 AMP).