Accusers Beware
The finger may point back at you
Last week was the anniversary of a pair of hurricanes that assaulted Florida: Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton. Helene did great damage to the state and Floridians braced themselves for Milton, which, while out to sea, was the most powerful tropical cyclone in the world for the 2024 hurricane season. Category 5.
I have a lot of friends in Florida, and I decided that my Facebook followers and I should pray to rebuke Milton because the one-two punch would be too much.
When I made this suggestion, there were four people, all men, who said that I was practicing witchcraft, which blew my mind, but not that much. It was far from the first time that I’ve been accused of not being a real Christian online before. The finger is almost always pointed when I take Jesus’ words, His rhema, and apply them - but I wondered where these guys were coming from.
Jesus rebuked a storm when He and His disciples were out on the sea of Galilee and He said later that His followers would be able to do the same things that He does and even greater things - aside from salvation.
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
Mark 4:35-41 (NIV)
12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 14:11-13 (NIV)
I asked one guy how he came to the conclusion that I was using witchcraft, and he cited 1 Samuel 28 where King Saul consulted with a witch to call up the spirit of the departed prophet Samuel, and I’m like what does that have to do with what we’re talking about? “We’re not talking about consulting the spirits of the dead. We’re talking about rebuking a storm,” I said. And he couldn’t tell me.
Another guy said that I didn’t have enough faith to rebuke anything and, because of my alleged lack, I was asking my friends to pray also. Really. Still another said that we shouldn’t be praying because the storm might be judgment on those in the path of the storm.
I had forgotten about this swarm of locusts incident until it came up last week in my Facebook memories.
I’ve talked about a certain spirit before, one which has sparked division between men and women and has long been a part of western cultures. Feminism is the most well-known manifestation of it, but I have observed another outgrowth of that spirit - one in which any woman who grabs hold to the power of God in the name of Jesus the Christ is deemed to be working the works of the Devil.
And that makes me afraid - not for myself but for those who attribute the works of the Lord to Satan. Why? Because that’s what the Pharisees did after Jesus healed a demon-possessed man! They blasphemed the Holy Spirit by attributing His works to Beelzebub.
30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
Matthew 12:30-32
When I provided the first two scriptures for the basis of our quest to quiet the storm, it was like they couldn’t understand the words or the implications of them. The guy who said that I didn't have enough faith cited Matthew 6:7 where Jesus warned against praying like pagans with vain repetitions, but he could not give an example of that occurring in our quest.
Am I pointing my finger? I don’t want to, but I do want to tell my readers to beware of this mindset.
By the way, Milton fell to Category 3 before making landfall near Siesta Key, Florida and quickly became a tropical storm. There was still damage from wind, rain and storm surge, but nothing near the damage of Helene.
Did God hear our prayers and act on them? He or she who observes can decide for self.
*****
If I practiced witchcraft, I would be conjuring money for my bills into my bank account.
Instead, I ask you to help. I’d like to give my landlord $820 today.
Sometimes I just have to think the word silly when something like this happens. There is absolutely no biblical reason to accuse you of witchcraft for praying to rebuke a storm. It is just silliness. I could say what were they thinking, but they were not thinking, just being silly.
(mostly) men seem to feel threatened when any woman uses the power and authority of Jesus Christ in their lives. It's no wonder to me that Jesus used many women throughout his ministry.