In November of 1998, a few weeks after I was saved, I had a terrifying experience.
I was sleeping on my left side and was awakened by heavy footsteps approaching the door at the foot of my bed. I woke up with the hair on the back of my neck standing up. This wasn’t a sleepy, drowsy, slow awakening. My eyes came open, and I was fully awake and aware.
I was living in a small trailer and anytime someone walked inside you would feel their footsteps. My roommate’s father, who was a giant of a man (6′ 8″ and 450 lbs.), would shake every corner of that trailer when he walked through the house. The steps I was hearing and feeling were much heavier, shaking the trailer like an earthquake.
The way I was positioned on my bed, my eyes were staring directly at the bedroom door. It was pitch dark, a cloudy night, with no lights on and no streetlights outside. As the footsteps drew closer, I was gripped with a terror I had never experienced before or since. I was completely paralyzed. I couldn’t move and could not talk. I have experienced great fear before, but nothing compared to this. This was shear terror.
I saw in the darkness a huge figure duck his head under the door frame and turn sideways because he couldn’t fit through the door because of his width. I could not make out his features clearly in the darkness, but I could tell he was wearing a robe with a 4 to 6-inch band around the edge that fell to the floor. He was a huge fellow! Nothing particularly scary about his appearance, just an atmosphere of evil and extreme terror.
He stopped in the doorway after he ducked under the door frame and stood sideways in the door frame staring at me, his head was almost touching the ceiling, which was 7.5 feet.
I had a pistol on my nightstand, and I could not get my hand to move and reach for it. Not that it would have done any good, but I was a new Christian and didn’t know better. The terror in my heart and mind was a tangible thing. I felt my throat getting tight to the point I couldn’t breathe. I felt as if I was being strangled by my own fear.
As he stood there, staring at me for about ten seconds, he said in a matter-of-fact, casual voice, “I am going to kill you.”
Tears were streaming onto my pillow, and all I could think of was calling out for Jesus! At first, I could not speak, but I kept trying. After the third attempt, I was barely able to utter Jesus’ name.
As soon as I feebly said “JESUS,” he turned quickly and ran like a coward, shaking the trailer. Immediately my paralysis left me. I quickly sat up in bed, turned the light on, grabbed my pistol for comfort, and I was hyperventilating. Almost immediately, I felt comfort and peace come over me. In a few seconds, my heart rate slowed down, my breathing slowed down, and I was awake the rest of the night thinking about what happened. It shook me to the core.
The next night, I woke up hearing the same heavy footsteps approaching my room. I didn’t wait this time. I immediately yelled, “JESUS!” And I could hear the heavy footsteps retreat rapidly. That was the last time I had an encounter like that.
A few days later, I shared this story with a pastor who had spent much time in third-world countries where demonic activity happens all the time. I told this pastor that I thought it was Satan himself. He said that was unlikely, but it was probably a “high-level devil,” as he called it.
He related to me accounts of others who experienced the same type of terror-stricken paralysis in the presence of these “high-level devils.” So, I took him at his word.
Fast forward 33 years, and I had a vision. Not an open type of vision like the first one, but as I was praying, with eyes closed, this vision came to my mind with stark clarity.
I was standing in what seemed like an enormous stadium or meeting hall. It was a hundred times bigger than the biggest football stadium, maybe more. There was an ocean of faces as far as the eye could see all around me, and they all seemed to be staring at me.
On my left stood Jesus, almost at my shoulder. To my right, about 15 feet away and facing me, was the same devil who came into my bedroom. He was wearing the same banded robe I saw 33 years ago, but he had the hood of the robe over his head this time, and his head was bowed down, looking at the floor. His hands were bound with some type of shackles in front of him, and an angel, larger than hi,m stood to his right with a big hand gripping him above the elbow. I knew by the Spirit that this was Satan.
I looked to Jesus, and He was staring straight ahead. I looked again at the devil being held by the angel, then I looked at the huge crowd staring at us in anticipation. I turned to Jesus and thought, “Are we supposed to be doing something?” He answered my thought and said, “They are awaiting his judgment.” So, I turned to look straight ahead to wait for the Lord to judge him. The Lord then said, “They await YOUR judgment.”
I didn’t know what to say and didn’t know what to do, but I knew I had to make a judgment. So, I turned to the Lord, who was still staring straight ahead, and said, “Lord, strip him of all his power and give him the lowest place in Heaven.”
As soon as I said that, the vision ended. I have no idea if what I said was right or wrong, but I felt in my heart it was a righteous judgment. I know some people will take issue with that, but I am just telling what happened.
Satan has tried his best to kill me since that first encounter. I assume he will keep trying because that’s how he rolls.
The Lord revealed to me that I had passed some type of test that Satan actually initiated. Similar to what happened to Job. Had I not shown Satan mercy to some degree, I would have failed, and Satan would have had license to torment me in a new way. That is all I understand about those encounters so far. If you have had similar experiences, please post in the comments.
Isaiah 54:17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.
Romans 10:13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
JESUS IS COMING!
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