THIS PRESENT DARKNESS - WEEK 8 - CHAPTERS 25 -28

THIS PRESENT DARKNESS by Frank Peretti

My word for these chapters is going to be CONFRONTATION. Even though there's good and bad confrontation, it generally stinks. It's hard! Even when it's good, we avoid it for all its worth. The situation becomes an infected sore under the skin, festering with puss and swelling, affecting every bit of life until there's no choice left but to address it and drain it. That's what we have here.

CONFRONTATION NUMBER 1 - I've got to start with the encounter with Bobby Corsi. The pus inside him is real. It's controlling every part of his life. In fact, he is NO LONGER IN CONTROL of his life at all. He attacks Bernice. Previously he attacked Mary (remember the car incident?). The demons recognize Hank Busche, Andy Forsythe, and the angels that are watching over them. Immediately, I am taken back to Mark 5:1-20 where Jesus encounters the possessed man among the tombs. "What is your name?" Jesus asked him. "Legion," he replied, "for we are many." Direct confrontation is coming! You know, the difficult, but the freeing kind! When Corsi is free, boy, does he have a lot of info to share including the name "Rafar."

CONFRONTATION NUMBER 2 - Marshall storms into the station and is directed to the conference room where Alf Brummel and several town leaders are waiting for him. Confrontation done under human power instead of God's power. Marshall thought he had the upper hand, didn't he? He had his ducks all in a row. He thought he was untouchable, but one by one the hammers fell and with it Marshall's life. Everything he's ever invested himself in is gone. Even though he played by the rules! His business, his home, his family. Gone! How interesting after Kate and Marshall talk, she mentions her mother has a dream and has been praying for Marshall. This battle isn't going to be won on human power.

CONFRONTATION NUMBER 3 - Kaseph and Susan. Ummm, I finished our assigned reading for the week, but I couldn't let this creepy situation dangle over unresolved until next week. No way! I needed to know what happened! Susan caught! Prepared for ritualistic sacrifice. Closure needed here! Peretti's words, " ...and now they (the demons) were laughing with the smell of approaching death like a sweet perfume in their nostrils" were chilling. As I read this, Christ's words in John 10:10 rang in my ears. "The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that they might have life and have it abundantly." What a stark difference.

I can't end on the subject of confrontation, though. Instead, I have to end on PRAYER. What a beautiful picture we have when Hank and Andy call a prayer meeting and people from Ashton's past that have been run out of town return. The remnant is growing and in unexpected ways. I'm just going to end this by saying God shows up in mighty ways when you need it. I've been through some tough times, and every time He showed up. He promises that, "He will never leave us, nor forsake us," and He doesn't. Big things are coming.