First, for a fuller understanding of the ensuing “study”, and how Satan “sifts who he desires” Luke 22: 31- 32, get a copy of C.S. Lewis’s — The Screwtape Letters … I woke up this morning and began to have reflective thoughts on the last few days “writing and spiritual activity” when the idea came to write this post. Be aware that a person who has never experienced a spiritual attack especially in their sleep, will not fully understand this post. Yet, I will go through what happens, at least what happens to me. The trigger point seems to be when something that needs to be accomplished by me is not accomplished, especially if it’s something that I have been struggling with for a long period, ie: “writing formats and conversion of large files of text and photography.” The frustration seems to make me “turn” on myself, “a type of anathema” or self curse, as I begin loathing and telling myself what a loser I am. Then begins an internal conversation with God addressing my misery, then the onset of extreme depression. Perhaps part of the problem is my having an awareness, a heightened sense concerning the tactics and hindrances of the devil, gained in my studying Lewis’s, The Screwtape Letters. Perhaps if my awareness level was not so extreme, I would probably view some of my dreams as weirder, but more normal. ( in other words, unaware of the spiritual darkness of the attack) I think it necessary for me to explain to others who may or may not be having similar experiences. My experiences provide insight into what is likely going on. Other “red flags” arrive before an attack, as I typically begin to write a lot about death, evident in this latest “treacherous turn” of mine. So there you have it. I have recently learned as in “the sifting of Peter; that a person is more than likely being sifted; as God allows the sifting to remove besetting sins that are hindering a person’s walk with Him. Frankie The Earthman.
So, perhaps to understand a little better, we have to remember that though Peter denied Christ three times, Peter “through the sifting” returned to let “God’s light back in” and was converted. I imagine I will survive this “turn.” Often, it feels for me as if Satan is “eclipsing” God’s wonderful comforting light to me. Having said that, I also would like to say that God has seen me through “40 plus years” of sanctification. My salvation and sanctification continue to be worked out, as they should be for all Christians. Someone said, ” I have been saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved.
Frankie The Earthman 