The enemy, spiritual attack, paranoid delusion

[midniterider]

I mentioned "The enemy" recently in a thread because it reminded me of one of the rabid Pentecostals I went to church with, years ago. Donthodl has mentioned Satan in his multi-delusional diatribe also. But on Facebook one of my friends who started out normal and is increasingly swallowing more and more Christian kool-aid posted something recently about needing prayer as they felt they were under spiritual attack.

 

First, they mentioned that they were going to be adopting a child, then they were going to be involved in some trending religious program, then they would be doing an older youth group as well as a younger youth group, as well as their full time jobs as well as taking care of their own children, etc etc. Then they asked for prayer because they felt 'The Enemy' was trying to foil their plans. They did not say precisely say 'what' the spiritual attack involved, nor did they seem to consider that just maybe they were spreading themselves too thin.

 

Looking at my own life, at one point my (then) wife and I were raising three kids with another kid also living with us. Had to 'save' him from a totally dysfunctional household. And we were fostering three infants. And going to church twice a week. And teaching Sunday School. And singing in the choir. And I was doing a full time job.

 

So the rabid Pentecostal ladies would be praying for us, doing that spiritual warfare, doncha know.   "The enemy" is always trying to throw a wrench in the works, they thought.

 

But, in reality there was just too much shit going on. We were doing too many things and it was catching up with us. So all this stress culminated in my getting a divorce, dumping church and shedding some of these other burdens before I lost my fucking mind .

 

Before attributing something to spiritual attack, maybe apply some common sense. The more responsibilities you take on , the more things that can/will go wrong. It's simple math. And no Satan is needed for that. I think these fundy churches tend to give people the illusion that 'with Jesus, all things are possible' and that normal people can be superman...well, until the illusion crashes.

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58 minutes ago, midniterider said:

I mentioned "The enemy" recently in a thread because it reminded me of one of the rabid Pentecostals I went to church with, years ago. Donthodl has mentioned Satan in his multi-delusional diatribe also. But on Facebook one of my friends who started out normal and is increasingly swallowing more and more Christian kool-aid posted something recently about needing prayer as they felt they were under spiritual attack.

 

First, they mentioned that they were going to be adopting a child, then they were going to be involved in some trending religious program, then they would be doing an older youth group as well as a younger youth group, as well as their full time jobs as well as taking care of their own children, etc etc. Then they asked for prayer because they felt 'The Enemy' was trying to foil their plans. They did not say precisely say 'what' the spiritual attack involved, nor did they seem to consider that just maybe they were spreading themselves too thin.

 

Looking at my own life, at one point my (then) wife and I were raising three kids with another kid also living with us. Had to 'save' him from a totally dysfunctional household. And we were fostering three infants. And going to church twice a week. And teaching Sunday School. And singing in the choir. And I was doing a full time job.

 

So the rabid Pentecostal ladies would be praying for us, doing that spiritual warfare, doncha know.   "The enemy" is always trying to throw a wrench in the works, they thought.

 

But, in reality there was just too much shit going on. We were doing too many things and it was catching up with us. So all this stress culminated in my getting a divorce, dumping church and shedding some of these other burdens before I lost my fucking mind .

 

Before attributing something to spiritual attack, maybe apply some common sense. The more responsibilities you take on , the more things that can/will go wrong. It's simple math. And no Satan is needed for that. I think these fundy churches tend to give people the illusion that 'with Jesus, all things are possible' and that normal people can be superman...well, until the illusion crashes.

Reads like those mentions triggered you a touch. (Didn't realize you and I had this much in common).  To the subject,  I don't think I've ever felt Spiritually that Satan or "the enemy" was attacking.  The only things I perceive to feel Spiritually are times when I am prompted to feel differently about a situation, i.e. more grace/lenient, and times when I think a revelation is being given.  ......but no, no enemy. 

 

Truthfully, it always pissed me off when I thought people were being disingenuous with their spirituality. 

[midniterider]

Probably some triggering going on, yes. And I think it’s one thing to have a faith, but quite another thing to be Paranoid for Jesus.