Detect, Discern and Depart From What Is Evil

Brothers and sisters, I am sure we know by now that the forces of darkness are always influencing, tempting and waiting for an opportunity to rob us off our faith and distant us from our Lord God. A lot of times, even as believers, we may unconsciously or carelessly fall into moments of greed, lies, hatred, bitterness and even lust. Now, when we start to realise we have these inclinations, do we do our all to pull ourselves out of it, or do we “tango” with some compromises? The thing is, we often fail to realise how destructive these inclinations can be. We may feel that, “oh, it is okay to just have a little bit of greed, okay to have a little lamentation over someone, okay to have a little bit of time to let loose and do what we want”. But if we really reflect, as we let these little “okays” go on and run its course, it will start to overtake our hearts. It may grow deeper roots of accusations in us, deeper desires in us, and it gets harder to pull ourselves out of it. Then, not only will it be hard for us to reconcile with God, our relationships with people around us may also take on a toll, just like what happened with Adam and Eve after they have sinned. In Matthew 6:23, it says, “But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” Now this verse is not saying we have no light in us, but that we fail to realise how great a hold darkness can have, it can really blind us entirely, our hearts and all we see. So today, let us be very much reminded and aware of how influential and manipulative darkness can be, discern what areas lead us into darkness and how we can flee from it. So how to do we depart and flee from darkness?

Detecting Darkness

Even though it is unseen, but the works of darkness can be seen every day, influencing the environment and the people around us. We can see darkness in the way in manifest and grow through tension in relationships, animosity between people at home or at work, prideful exchanges, greed and competition, and many more. Now, one way to detect the darkness in our own lives is to see that if there are some areas we know are not pleasing to God, yet we let it be, we are indifferent or enjoy it, then we have already entered into the forces of darkness. Actually, the scariest thing about the forces of darkness is that it does not only work through giving us troubles or oppression, it can come in to form of attractive and seemingly wonderful things. Like a new career progression, a group of merrymaking friends, and such. But as it packages itself beautifully, we have to also ask, does it draw our hearts away from looking to God, from looking to things above, from loving people, and focus more on our pride, men’s approval or worldly successes? We can ignore detecting darkness in our lives for awhile, but you will start to see the growing of accusations, the distance of our relationship with God and how it affects our mindset, purposes and the way we manage our relationships. So, not only must we know what forces of darkness is, our hearts must always be vigil and reflective in knowing where darkness thrives in our lives.  

Discerning Darkness

Now when we enter into some inclinations or sins, it is often because our hearts are not in the right place. For example, we have some fears, worries or discontentment. Why will our hearts not be in the right place? Because we have lost a close communion with God. When men are not drawn near to God, the natural effect would be for men to look to our flesh, our needs, our desires for love, for money or for comfort. Therefore when a setback comes along, causing us to be hurt, unhappy, lonely, or helpless, we will easily fall into deeper sins and temptations. Like  when someone’s pride is being challenged and they are hurt, they sink into self pity, sense of failure and start to develop feelings of jealousy, mistrust or insecurities in their relationships. They cannot be happy or contented with what God has given them. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have to discern what leads us into our current ways of unbelief, sins or wayward faith. Is it brought about by people or situations? Or is it because our hearts are not in the right place? Perhaps we have not been close to God or looking at things through God’s counsel in certain areas. That is why we are not spirit led in the way we interact with family members, we are not able to hold back our anger, we start to play the blame game or we are easily accused. These are the areas we have to quiet down, know where our hearts are at and seek God’s mercy and help in steering us back to His word and conviction.

Departing from Darkness

Finally, as we talk about fleeing from the forces of darkness in our lives, we have to flee to the right place. Fleeing from what is evil in God’s eyes is not about escaping our reality. Many times, when people cannot take the pressure and oppression from their weaknesses and problems, instead of fleeing to God, they flee to whatever appeases and comforts their physical needs and desires. For example, splurging or retail therapy, indulging in gaming or watching dramas and such. Now when this happens, we are not going back to God and our shepherd, so we will realise that the problems do not get resolved. They are merely delayed, ignored but still there. In most cases, when we continue to flee to the wrong places, our relationship with God will grow cold. So where should we flee to then? To Emmanuel. To anywhere where we will experience the presence of God. We all need to pursue Emmanuel but how do we do so? The fact is, all our problems begins once we grow distant from God and enter closer and closer to the forces of darkness. Therefore, let us not be afraid of what is evil in our lives, but fear not being able to be close to God. That should be our utmost source of fear. Because in John 15:5, it says, ““I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Therefore, we should have a fear and trembling heart that pursues a life that is close to God. This is something we cannot live without. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 51:11, “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.” Brothers and sisters, this is a prayer of battle between flesh and spirit. He knows the only way to flee the evil and darkness of the self and world is to run before the Lord and enter His presence. If we do not fight for our close walk with God, we will easily be swayed and derailed by the things of the flesh. Therefore, we must ask ourselves, deep in our hearts, are we far from God today, are we not able to look to God in some parts of our lives, or areas we tend to avoid seeking God’s voice because we want things our way? Is the value of Christ lost in some parts of your living? In Matthew 5:6, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” So to flee from darkness, let us thirst after Christ’s righteousness and let His truth and word fill us with contentment. Only Christ can overcome and destroy the forces of darkness, so let us flee to no other place than right here with Him.
May the Lord help us and lead us out of certain areas of darkness in our lives we have dwelled in for long, and enter into His light. God bless.