| Proclaim Liberty to the Captives! |
PROCLAIM LIBERTY
to the CAPTIVES
C a l ’ s S t o r y
There
was a time when the word “deliverance” meant to me the act of casting demon
spirits out of a person who had turned away from sin and wanted to walk with
the Lord Jesus.
Now
for this writer, the word “deliverance” in addition to the first meaning,
includes casting out of demons at any stage of a Christian’s development.
It
also means changing from carnal habits to God-honoring healthy habits, cleansing
the body of old poisons.
Finally,
we now understand that “deliverance” also includes removal from a bad
situation.
Cal’s story embodies all of these elements.
Cal
would occasionally work with my husband, Jim, as a painting contractor. Several
times, Cal and I shared wallpapering jobs. Jim used to come home from a day of
work with Cal, shaking his head in frustration.
“Honey, seems like for just
about anything I tell him, his first words are: ‘Yes, but…’
We
laughingly agreed that was the best way to go. So we prayed for Cal, and we
prayed for his wife, the mother of his two young children.
Cal’s
faith began to grow and he did better for a while, but his marriage was rocky,
and Cal made some bad compromises in order to please his wife. It didn’t work
of course, and Cal eventually was back to using drugs and alcohol, and lost his
wife anyway.
Cal
had been one of the pallbearers at Jim’s funeral, and had come over once or
twice to do some painting for me, but I had not seen or heard from him in over a
year. Then one morning the phone rang
and Cal was on the line.
“I
am in bad trouble and I really need help. I’m over here at the hospital in the
psychiatric ward and they won’t let me go.”
“Cal,”
I said, “I’m going to call some friends to help with prayer, and I’ll be over
there as soon as I can. You hang in there and remember that Jesus loves you.”
After
calling a friend and asking her to call another to pray for Cal, I went to the
Lord and started claiming God’s promises to His children. Then I rebuked the
devil and his bunch. Within about twenty minutes, I felt released to go to the
hospital.
I
went with a song of praise in my heart and on my lips. I knew God was about to
do something special!
The
psychiatric ward was on the fourth floor. I went in past the nurses’ station
and noticed the zombie-like expressions of the people seated in the lounge. The
patients are kept heavily drugged so they won’t be a problem to each other and
the staff.
Cal
was seated at a table with an open Bible in front of him. When I joined him, he
told me what had happened.
Cal’s
wife had found someone else, and in his anger and frustration Cal may have
threatened to kill himself. (He had no remembrance of that threat however.) His
wife ran out, and called the police.
When
the officer came, he told Cal to get him the gun. Cal went into his bedroom,
took the gun and put a bullet into the television. At this point, the policeman
decided Cal needed to be removed from the scene, and took him to the
psychiatric ward of the hospital. It was the following morning that Cal called
me.
The
man was obviously sorrowful about the whole state of affairs and his weaknesses
which led to the present situation. I had brought my guitar with me, and we
took it into his room, closed the door and began to sing praises to God.
Then
I sang the NOW Prayer, and Cal received the prayer as his own:
“Now
take, take, take away all my sorrow; take, take, take away all my fear. Now take, take, take away all my
loneliness; take, take, take away all my sin…”
What
a wonderful deliverance Cal received that morning! We just sang and praised
God, and the work was done. The tormenting demons left Cal’s mind and body.
As
tears of joy filled his eyes, he was given renewed assurance of his salvation, and
of God’s great love for him. He knew he was forgiven.
It was beautiful!
There
was still a major hurdle that was to come the next morning at the seven a.m.
committal hearing. I arrived at about the same time as the judge. We found the
little conference room where the psychiatrist and a social worker were already
seated. In a few minutes, Cal and
Tony, his employer, entered the room.
There
was strong tension between those of us at Cal’s end of the table, and the psychiatrist
and social worker at the other end. The war between faith in God on the one
hand, and unbelief on the other, was about to clash again.
This
was one of those times when the presence of angels was very real!
When
Cal described the events that brought him to the hospital and his present
understanding of it all, he spoke in such a gentle voice and with such clarity
of thought, that it seemed obvious to the judge: this man was in control of his
faculties.
The
psychiatrist recommended that Cal be retained for observation, for six months of
therapy. (That meant a lot of drugs and psychological delving.) The lady social
worker, trained in the system, agreed with the psychiatrist.
“What
is your recommendation?” the judge asked me.
I
explained that I had known Cal for about five years and was aware of the
background problems which brought him to the hospital. It was clear to me that
Cal had been restored to a healthy state of mind the day before, when we had
worshiped God and Cal had received His forgiveness.
“A
better alternative to a drug therapy would be a metabolic program including
body cleansing, proper diet and exercise to bring Cal’s body-mind system into
balance. His spirit is doing fine now. I
am a consultant in lifestyle therapy and can help him in this area, as well as
in the spiritual.”
Then
the judge made his decision:
“I
do not see any reason to detain this man any further. If he will go to the
mental health center across the way and get the opinion of Dr. M., and if Dr.
M. concurs with Mrs. Terrell’s suggestion, my
decision is that this man be released now.”
Much
elated and thanking God, Cal, Tony and I literally danced out of the hospital a
few minutes later, knowing that God had worked another miracle!
Cal’s
conference with Dr. M. at the Mental Health Center was again positive.
“I
see no reason to commit you, Cal” said the doctor. He also agreed that Cal should
follow the diet therapy.
The
weeks and months that followed were proof that Cal had indeed been changed. Not
only was he changed, but God was using him to bring change to others. His
younger brother received Jesus and his life began to change. Another friend
received Jesus, and reconciling with his parents, he agreed to go back to college.
Several
months after his miracle, Cal called me and said,
“Pray
for me, please. I’m flying to Guatemala as part of a mercy mission. God has
been so merciful to me, and I just want to spend the rest of my life sharing
his love and mercy with others!”
Jesus
said it:
“He that is forgiven much, loves much.”
