The island countertop lay askew, having been ripped from its cabinet. Shattered glass lay everywhere; the front of the microwave was smashed in. Lemonade dripped from the curtains. It had been a loud, horrible fight, the worst one to date.
Three of my sons had high-tailed it outside when the battle began. I stormed out of the house to find them. I’d had it. We were “so out of here.”
As was my custom, I took my kids to my parents’ home to figure out what I was going to do next. The song, “Watch Me” played nonstop in my head.
(Note to self: pick better theme songs. I’d been singing this one to myself every day for about a year. It’s chorus begins, “If you think I won’t go, watch me. Watch me prove you wrong today.” No big surprise, here I was “proving him wrong.”)
During the next two weeks, I located a house I could rent, and was making preparations to move there. Just before signing paperwork, my husband called to see what I was up to. I “waved my little hand and whispered, ‘So long, Dearie. You ain’t gonna see me anymore.’ “
Seriously? I thought to myself after his call. If I leave, this will be marriage number four down the drain. Do I really want this?
No. I’m tired of being a failure.
Not knowing what else to do, I contacted the pastor at a local church and discussed our situation with him. He suggested my husband and I talk to him before filing for divorce.
We did, agreed to a truce, and I moved back home.
Through a series of events, we left that church and began attending the one we still call “ours” fourteen years later.
One day I was talking with our pastor, John Morrill (who lives with Jesus now). There was something that had been weighing on my mind, and I wanted to get his take on the matter.
“Pastor John, our decor is Asian. Consequently, we have a lot of dragons around our house. I know that they are worshiped in other cultures, but we don’t do that. Is it okay to have them?”
He thought for a minute, then said, “Do you know who the dragon is in the Bible?”
“Yes,” I responded. “It’s Satan.”
“Okay. That’s right. I’m glad you know that,” he said. “Well then, the only other thing I can show you from the Bible is this verse right here. It says, ‘Whatever you do, if it is not of faith, then for you it is sin.’ You’ll have to decide what to do with your dragons.”
When I got home, I knew what had to be done. My husband, new to the faith and fond of our dragons, would never understand or consent, so I asked God to cover me while I did my best to obey Him.
First I went through the house and removed every dragon I could find. There was quite a pile of swords, pictures, statues, candles, tapestries, and even a cabinet with Mother of Pearl inlaid dragons on it. These I burned, broke, or otherwise ruined.
Next I got out the bottle of salad oil. “Lord, I’m feeling pretty silly right now. I don’t understand how any of this works, but I’m asking You to honor my attempts to cleanse my home. Please close any ‘doors’ we’ve opened in ignorance. Please send Your Spirit to fill our home.” I “anointed” every place that once held a dragon.
I finished long before my husband arrived. I held my breath and wondered how on earth I was going to explain the removal of a few hundred dollars worth of “beautiful” decorations from our home. The wall next to the front door once had a four-foot by two-foot picture of two fighting dragons. Now it was a big, empty white space. There was no way he could miss it!
About three months later (!) he asked where the different pieces had gone. I told him what I’d done. At first he was a little upset. “Some of those things were gifts,” he complained.
One night I told the story to some friends. I finished with, “We haven’t had a single violent conflict in our home since then.”
My husband overheard my story. “Hey, that’s true! That was a couple of years ago. There hasn’t been even one fight like we used to have,” he marveled.
Like I said, this took place fourteen years ago. The difference from the last day “with dragons” to the very next one “without dragons” was like night and day. The days of violence are a dim memory.
Coincidence? We don’t think so.
Now we’re both hyper-vigilant, and routinely check books, movies, video games, and decorations. Things pertaining to the occult offend our Lord. We don’t want to glorify His enemy.
Has something come to mind while you’ve read this article? If so, make it a matter of prayer – see what the Lord would have you do.
Why hang onto dangerous dragons?