I “saw” Satan standing in front of me with a large net. And he was laughing. And waiting, waiting for me to make a mistake. I had been baited to get out of love, to strike out in anger at that other person. And Satan knew that when I did, I was entering his territory, and he had me. I had almost taken the bait.

I had been asking God to let me see the spiritual world as clearly as I see the natural world, and I certainly got a clear picture that day. I knew what I had to do, and I did it immediately. I turned off that emotion called anger, and I responded with kindness and understanding toward that person.

That trap didn’t work. I’ll be on the lookout for the next one because as long as I live in this world, I know they’ll keep coming.

Back when I was insane about the guy, I would have thought it was a “sign” that I should be with him, and I would have packed up and moved 500 miles to be close to him. But by that point, I was coming to my senses enough not to be that stupid. I had a good job and people who loved me. I stayed put.

Just finding a ceramic figure in a fireplace is odd. I mean, that doesn’t happen every day. But what are the chances that figurine would be the exact representation of his dog? How did it get there? Why was it perfectly preserved? Why at that point in my life? Who knows, another one of those weird things that happen.

My way of being the other person was to get high. It didn’t matter what the drug or the drink as long as I achieved my goal of being the life of the party. I would go from being shy and quiet to loud and in my own mind the “real me”. I felt confident and outgoing. Because I had an identity, I was the guy who always passed out or did something crazy.It didn’t start out that way. My mom would take me to church a couple times a week. I really enjoyed church. The music and preaching was okay and even as a teen I stayed involved. One day I fell in with the wrong crowd and within a couple of years I was a raging drug and alcohol addict. But the God of my youth even in my wasted state was always there. I can’t explain how I know I knew he was watching over me.

I was working in Alabama but I would drive back to my home in Louisiana on the weekends. It was about a seven hour drive. I would get off work on Friday afternoon and drive straight through to my home. Then on Sunday afternoon I would drive back.

One weekend I had partied very hard and I found myself wasted and still needing to get back to Alabama. The young and the dumb in me won out so I set out about ten Sunday night. I had been on the road for several hours and I just felt so tired. I was driving about sixty or so mph. Then I heard a voice. It was someone in the front seat with me and he said in a calm voice, “I know you must be tired, just turn loose of the wheel and let me drive”. It sounded good to me so I just simply let go of the steering wheel. No sooner had I turned loose that someone else yelled at me to take the wheel. So I did as I was told and once again I was driving. This would be a simple story if I had not been alone in the car. As I drove on through the night these two entities held a conversation I could not understand their language but I knew I was the topic. I held on to the wheel the rest of the trip and arrived safely to my destination.

I will always believe that there was a plot by dark supernatural forces to take me out that day. I am grateful that the supernatural forces of light came to my rescue. The God of my youth had once again saved me. I will as long as I live believe that a demon and an angel fought over my life that night. This was the beginning of a long and exciting spiritual journey that is still on going.

By the way, He is no longer the God of my youth; He is the God of my now!