When I was a child, I was so afraid of ghosts and evil spirits. I entertained thoughts of their presence in and out the house that at many times, I was controlled by the fear I had inside.

This has reminisced in my mind when I read the gospel of St. Mark Chap. 1:21-28. It speaks so much of a negative spirit who knew the Lord, believed in Him but opposes His supremacy.

“Then they came to Capernaum, and on the Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!” The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.”

I was fond of horror movies then but I could not stand watching till the end. Like many children and a few adults maybe, I tend to cover my face with my hands during scary or horrifying scenes but kept on peeping to catch a glimpse of what was happening. I remembered many movies that dissatisfied my hunger for a good and peaceful ending. Because, deep inside a child’s heart, I believed that God always wins, and good is always triumphant in the end.

In scary and suspense movies such as those, usually were the unrest and anger developed in the hearts of the main characters. Anger that later haunted their spirits to take revenge usually for the wrong done to them. Somehow, their fear and frustration in dealing with people were built-up by their being outcasts in the community they live in, which became cornerstones of their inability to mingle and relate with others developing into hate, leading to revenge at the worst.

Similar to a man possessed with the unclean spirit is a person who nurtures anger and envy, that often translates into words that harm people, into thoughts that are obsessed to destroy, into feelings that sow fear and rejections and grow hearts that see only oneself.

“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Awp. Suddenly, I felt this pinch in my heart.  I remember my stubbornness.

How often do I listen to God’s voice? How often do I let good thoughts make my day? How often do I let the presence of God be manifested in my day to day living? How often do I stand for what is true even if all others stand for the opposite? Or how often do I let myself be consumed by envy and bitterness? How often do I entertain self-destructing feelings? Or even how often do I let the fear of my weaknesses engulf my own thoughts, feelings and even my own person?

Remember, the enemy is wiser than what anybody think he is and he knows well how to throw the bait. He is tricky. Just imagine he has been training for thousands of years. It is easy for him to impress into our thoughts that everything is fine and okay even if it is not.

So like a child, peep and slowly discover who and where you really are at the moment. Shout to the Lord and ask for help. Let God show the real you. Accept Jesus as your Lord. Discover Him. Love Him. And let him cast out your fear, your anger, your loneliness, your bitterness, your grief and all your negativity.

Nobody is perfect and we are not defined by our failures or mistakes. But by the beauty of redemption, we are bound to perfection and it starts here if we would just let God intervene.

The process would not be easy and might take days, months or years to uncover completely but taking a step today is better than taking no step at all.

In the gospel, we are challenged to uncover the negative in the deepest part of us and let the Lord expand our horizons to become our true selves. It is not enough to know Jesus because even the devil knows him well. The condition is to acknowledge Him as your Saviour for He is the Holy One of God. Come to Him and be amazed at what He can do to you.

“Hear the voice of God and harden not your hearts.” (PSALM 147:1-2)