Being a Realtor, I have had contact with dozens and dozens of home buyers. I never realized how many reasons there were to not buy a house. Some of the most common reasons are things like the yard being too small, the laundry room being in the basement or the wrong floor plan. Recently, I got a call from a buyer who was interested in a house I had listed. Bottom line–she wanted to know if anyone had died in the house. She was afraid it was haunted. She didn’t end up buying it, even though her dogs visited the home so she could see if they had any reaction to a “presence” that might be lingering in the house. So, that was a first. And even though I am fairly certain that house wasn’t haunted, I am beginning to believe that mine is. Well, specifically, my body-house. My soul.
According to Oswald Chambers, “We are all haunted by something, generally, by ourselves…”. For a long, long time, I was haunted by resentments. Memories of people who I felt had betrayed me. People who had hurt my family in some way. Recollecting and rehashing painful experiences relentlessly invaded my mind day in and day out with no relief. I felt haunted. Unable to focus on the stuff in my life that wasn’t so scary. I was moving around, doing the deal, but my mind was anxious and preoccupied with past events and offenses. After many intentional prayers for those people and for my angry heart to be softened and humbled, I was able to find some deliverance from that haunting.
But here’s the deal, there is always something, or someone, waiting in line to take the place of that particular “presence”. Our only solution is to be haunted by God. “The whole of our life inside and out is to be absolutely haunted by the presence of God.” The Bible puts it like this, “In Him we live, and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)
Since I read about this concept from Oswald Chambers (who wrote in 1930s), I have been praying for God to haunt me. Because I have a very strong tendency to allow worry and fear to take up residence in me, penetrating every nook and cranny of my being.
Oswald says, “if we are haunted by God, nothing else can get in, no cares, no tribulation, no anxieties. We see now why God so emphasized the sin of worry. How can we dare be so utterly unbelieving when God is round about us? To be haunted by God is to have an effective barricade against all the onslaughts of the enemy.”
When we are haunted by God, our enemies (whatever yours may be: fear, anxiety, worry, jealousy, anger, etc.) cower. If God’s presence dwells and abides and consumes our Being, there is no room left for such invasions. Invite Him to haunt you today.
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