Response To Tianyi's Blog Post

Hey dude, tried posting this under the comments portion of your blog put apparently there isn't enough space and I dont have a Vox account which I am lazy to sign up for =p.

Anyway, my 2 cents worth is that that "paralysed" feeling you felt can quite likely be attributed to fatigue. Think it occurs when your body is tired but your mind is still active. I've experienced it once too and was a bit freaked out initially- but after praying and waiting it got better. (I'm not saying that what you went through was definitely of a physical nature only but this is a possibility)

I bet your experience was more freaky with the creepy laughing you heard. (Somehow I'm not comfortable with the term "demonic encounter" so I'll stick to spiritual attack) However, though it could be very possible that what you experienced had a spiritual element in the form of a spiritual attack, my personal opinion is that we should try not to give the devil any "credit" possible.

Using your experience as an example, how do we give the noobster devil "credit"? I think it's when we adopt the attitude that it was "DEFINTELY the devil doing his thing, we were POWERLESS to move" or when we allow that experience to cause fear or doubts about our relationship with God to creep into our lives.

2 Tim 1:7 - "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

Though the spiritual realm is very real and yes satan does try to mess around, I personally feel that we should firstly be cautious to point our finger towards that thing with the horns. There are times when I've felt that I've been on the end of what seemed like a spiritual attack. But having reflected about some of these times, I've come to realize that some of these negative feelings actually arose from issues in my life that I had not resolved with God more than the devil trying to use his fork to prod me. (Ok, don't this point really relates to your experience specifically because your's happened rather involuntarily and quickly)

Secondly, even if it was a spiritual attack we should not allow that feeling of fear, doubt, etc. to linger in our lives. I'm glad that your first response to what you felt was to call upon God and praise Him that He responded in a tangible way to you. But let's try to take it another step further and reject any remnant fears in the name of Jesus because He has given us a spirit of power. Unpleasant as that experience may have been, let's not be afraid that the devil may try it again. If he wants to try again, bring it on! Cause this time we're more prepared and I'm sure the Holy spirit in me is going to kick the devil posterior! To sum it up in a term I've learnt in NS, be "garang".

Thirdly, do not conclude that because we've faced a spirtual attack, there is definitely something wrong in our lives. Though it's true that we can never be 100% Christ-like in this life, let's not go about bashing ourselves up thinking,"Perhaps I'm not seeking God correctly. If He was truly inside of me, I would not have experienced this spirtual attack. Is He really in my life in the first place?". To set the record straight yes, the Holy Spirit is inside of you and always will be when you received Him. He ain't the sort who walks out on people, we are the one's who choose to quench Him. Back to my former point, the devil does attack people who are doing fine spirtually (this does not mean we are satisfied with our current walk with God, we must always desire more!). I think of Job, pretty decent chap, you know the rest.

Fourthly, I don't think most of us are guilty of this but let's not go to the other extreme whereby we think that we must be doing something correct with God hence the devil wants to attack our lives. I think it is possible that people can contort matters in a perverse matter and think that,"Gosh, I'm going through so much opposition with this bunch of people, this must be a spiritual attack, which means I'm doing God's will because the devil attacks those who are spiritual strong. Therefore I must be doing the right thing and should persist." Such logic rides on a very slippery slope as a twisted sense of pride / self-righteousness overcomes the person being "attacked".

To summarize, always discern what's happening in our lives and examine our own lives first before blaming the devil. And even if it were a spiritual attack, let's rise above what the devil can feebly throw with God's anointing in our lives and grow spiritually instead of digressing into fear or discouragement.

Oh gosh, I hope I have not rambled on incessantly but I'm not exactly sure of your experience thus I've tried to cover the bases in my very limited capacity. Hope it has given you some insight and likewise for any other reader (coming up with this has taught me quite a bit). And yep, not directly related to your blogpost, my sensing is that you've been chionging a bit too much for your own good with kool camp, practices and the anxiety of band camp back then lah. Don't burn yourself out yah. Remember to always seek Him in the secret place everyday and prepare yourself / ourselves for the Youth Camp and whatever else our awesome God has prepared for us =).