In the Battle

Filming a Documentary in Australia and an Accident that Occurred

During November, Leo and I were in Australia, filming part of a documentary to coincide with the book I’ve been writing. We were filming in Adelaide, South Australia, where we are from, and a terrible accident happened. I walked straight off a platform, fell down some steps, and utterly shattered the bone in my big toe, considerably hurting my foot. It happened only a week and a half into our trip and filming. Leo believes the Devil was responsible. In a moment, I was somehow blinded and forgot the steps that I had only seconds before walked down and up in the house we were staying. We believe it was to stop me from speaking and filming the documentary where I share the tactics of the Devil – the tactics that caused my demon-possessed in 2004.

“It was the Legion,” the demonic, the Lord Jesus, spoke to me. It is what the documentary is all about.

Leo and I kept filming, though I was in considerable pain and the difficulties. 

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair,” 2 Corinthians 4:8.

Though the bone in my large toe was utterly shattered and in multiple pieces like pebbles, we kept going, not crushed. But more than conquerors in Christ. 

What the Devil meant for evil, God uses for good.

The hypnotic powers of the Devil and demons to blind and make us forget danger in order to hurt us is real. In a split moment, I was blinded from seeing the steps and forgot the danger ahead of me. As Christians, it is so important to remember not to do the same with God’s word and the message of Christ.

My broken toe now features in the documentary, like evidence, a physical representation of the Devil’s attacks. 

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere” (2 Corinthians 2:14).

God is using us; our lives are His to use. But it will mean suffering at times.

There were considerable costs associated with this accident other than the pain and physical discomfort it caused me. Leo and I had to delay our flights back to San Diego, missing out on the fellowship of our three daughters all being together at one time in San Diego. We missed out on the fellowship of our three sons in-laws and our grandchildren because we were doing the work of the Lord that brings suffering at times.

So, what are the main points of this post?

• A Target – We are a Target!
• But More than Conquerors in Christ
• God wants to use our lives as a witness to others to help them
• It might mean suffering, but God promises us His glory!

A Target

We are a target for the Devil’s attacks when we serve the Lord Jesus as His friend.

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed (1 Peter 4:12-13 NIV).

More than Conquerors in Christ.

God’s gift of Salvation is a gift of Himself. To take us out of darkness and blindness and enable us to see and understand everlasting life. Jesus came to destroy the works of the Devil, break his power, and transform the way we think, which enables us to become a new creation in Christ Jesus and known by Him.

“As it is written:

‘For your sake we face death all day long;

    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord’” (Romans 8:36-39).

It isn’t an easy path serving and believing in Jesus. But His love never departs and we are more than conquerors in Christ to overcome evil and it’s methods to destroy us eternally.

God wants to use our lives as a witness to others to help them.

We are the light of the world, Jesus said.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16).

It is our purpose.

People Need to See Disciples!

People need to see the evidence of the power of Christ in us! It was the reason I had not believed; Jesus told me. The people around me did not live like they believed in the cross of Christ and all He had accomplished. People need help with their belief in the gospel because our faith must endure until the end, Jesus said, for us to be saved. They need encouragement with their faith because the lie is fierce. The forces of confusion are great, and the road to destruction is all around us, pulling people along with it.

It might mean suffering, but God promises us His glory!

            “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory” (Romans 8:17).

So, here I am with a broken toe, back in San Diego, soldiering on. Paul said his imprisonment for preaching the gospel caused people to preach the gospel with boldness. It increased their faith. They saw his suffering as evidence of the attacks of the Devil, the enemy of our soul and Christ. I pray this helps you rise above the Devil and his efforts to stop your belief. Or stop you from serving and being a light to others, living the life Jesus modeled and taught, written down, and preserved in God’s Word that will endure forever!

Let what Jesus has done for you be a light to someone else on the road to Salvation. And let God use the sufferings that might come to increase others’ faith and belief in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.