When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: – Matthew 8:16
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled, was convincing the world he didn’t exist.
That’s the famous line from The Usual Suspects, and not a verse of Scripture.
It is however the essence of deception and strategic warfare.
As terrible as it would be for you to be overcome and defeated in battle by an evil powerful foe…it’s far more devastating to convince you that this foe doesn’t exist, and all the hindrances and damages you’re sustaining are due to something else.
This blindness of heart and ignorance of spiritual realities gives your adversary plenty of room to prowl around like a roaring lion, “seeking whom he may devour”. (1 Peter 5:8)
Convincing you that all you see is all there is, will get you focusing your efforts in the wrong area.
Convincing you that there is no connection between the manifestation of physical infirmities and the operation of unclean spirits will keep you managing symptoms but never dealing with the root issue.
And as an aside, the immediate counterattack to any attempt to probe in this area is The Extremist Card: “Do you mean to say that every sickness is because of the devil?”
Don’t be intimidated or manoeuvred out of position by this question. Whether or not every sickness is due to the devil does not change the facts that Jesus routinely healed people by casting out evil spirits.
Case in point, Luke 9:37-42 (
Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him. 38 Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, “Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.39 And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him. 40 So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”
41 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” 42 And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.
Verse 42:
Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit…healed the child…and gave him back to his father.
Direct correlation between spiritual oppression and the manifestation of what could be typically diagnosed as an Epileptic Seizure.
There is a direct link between physical manifestation and spiritual realities.
The specific narrative of the spiritual force behind each physical manifestation may be a mystery only understood by “detailed revelation”…and perhaps for some of these things it may not be given for us to know.
But there is a connection between spirit, soul (mind+will+emotion) and body.
And learning how to navigate life with your eyes open to this reality is probably the greatest goal you can aim for in your spiritual growth this year.