Freedom at Halloween

Did that really happen to you? Did God really have to intervene and send someone to save your life? Surely you misunderstood. Maybe it was all a joke. Nobody would actually try to kill you. Right? These thoughts tormented my mind for years.

I was in high school in the late ‘80s and at that time the kids in my school thought it was cool and funny to claim to be a satanist. Satanic Bibles were passed around and it all seemed to most to be a big joke. But it wasn’t. A few of my “friends” practiced this religion and it was rumored they planned to do a human sacrifice for Halloween. Through repeated dreams and what others said, it became apparent to me that I was the intended sacrifice. Sounds crazy, right?

But I wasn’t crazy. In 1994, God brought freedom to my mind and soul. I met a young man I’ll call “Fred” to protect his identity. We met in September, approximately five years from when I learned the devil’s plan for me that Halloween night. Fred was living in the local homeless shelter which required him to attend my church. It worked. He got saved. Through our work with the shelter, Fred started talking to my husband and me saying how concerned he was about the devil coming after him because of his past. One day in early October, several of us were sitting and talking. Fred began to share his fears. Halloween would be here soon, and he was afraid that the devil would be coming to get him. Fred began to share his past sins and the witchcraft he had been involved with. As he shared details, he would ask, “Can God forgive that?” Each time, I would calmly and joyfully say, “Yes! Is there more?” He was amazed that nothing shocked me. As his “crimes” against God got worse, I simply kept reassuring him that he was God’s child now and all was forgiven.

As he talked, he shared that five years prior he had been a part of a group that was going to do a human sacrifice for Halloween to gain satanic power. He told me when, where, the name of the group, and everything about the girl. But he did not know her name. He looked at me intently and asked, “Can God protect me from those demons? Can I be set free?”

It all lined up! The location, the name of the group, the timing... it was my city, and the “girl” was me! I was that girl! I looked him in the eyes, reached out my hand to shake his, and said, “Yes, God can do it! But first, hi, my name is Lina, and I am the girl who was supposed to die that night.”

Here I was living a saved and delivered life, teaching, and praying with a man who had tried to be a part of what would have been my death. Yes, God had saved me. Yes, the memory was real. And now it was time for God to set Fred and me free from all of the demonic strongholds in our minds from our pasts.

What an amazing, loving God we serve. God showed Fred that I was the one set to die that Halloween, and that God was the One who had stopped the sacrifice. What the Enemy planned for evil, God turned to good (Genesis 50:20)! 

God can do the same in your life. No matter what the devil has planned against you, God’s plan and power bring victory!

“So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.” (John 8:36 NLT)

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Scripture is quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.