Is Speaking in Tongues weird? For me at least, it was. It’s weird as this hippo beast of burden! When I first heard someone in church speaking in tongues, I laughed. I understood the power of words, I mean, the world was created from God’s words after all.
But to hear someone speaking in tongues so loudly was pretty strange for me, until…
A physically abusive relationship is one’s own personal hell. When you live in hell on earth, you live with satan right up under your roof. It is perhaps easy to empathize and even sympathize with someone going through constant hell but you never really understand the agony unless you become a player in someone’s reality.
Imagine yourself living with a man who works from home, you are the submissive helper, not by your own choice, but because you were TOLD it was being obedient to God. You have maybe two days a week of good interactions and then out of nowhere, and without warning, you are taken for a harrowing ride. All of a sudden the face changes. A look of evil, dead eyes, booming voice spitting out irrational reasons why he is angry at you. It could be as simple as watching football and all of a sudden turning the tv off believing that the reason for your interest in the game was for the purpose of watching men's derriere. WHAA???
In the middle of one night around 2am, you are awakened by bedroom lights being turned on, covers being stripped off, being pulled to sit up. Imagine your shock when you find yourself yelled at and scolded. You beg for him to wait until the morning to discuss it after the kids are safe in school but there was no negotiating with a monster.
Yes, it happened. I sat there praying inside for God to make it stop but it seemed the more I ignored his rants, the angrier he became. When he did, his blue eyes got darker and darker until it was almost black, dead and cold. It was at that point I knew there was going to be violence. I’ve seen it before when I got kicked and then picked up like a rag doll and thrown out to the front lawn by big Brutus in the middle of a cold November night.
As he raised his large muscular hand I snapped a pointed finger about 1/2 an inch from his face and sternly said NO! “Don’t you raise your hand at me!” I didn't know where that bravery came from, to be honest. And out of nowhere, the words just spilled out of my mouth, words I’ve never heard before, words that was not my own Tagalog, not English, not Spanish… The words were weird, they were praying words, words that I knew only God could understand, the gift of the Holy Spirit and it came over me. It spilled uncontrollably from my lips and it lasted for about 30 seconds. satan with his hand mid-strike froze, like the salt statue in Sodom and Gomorrah. During my speaking in tongues experience even I was shocked, but I felt victorious. Slowly his eyes and face relaxed. His hand fell to his side. He turned and walked away, shut the light off and closed the door behind him. The full armor of God was there at that very moment protecting me! I’m sold! My faith is so strong today and I attribute part of that strength from this experience.
Hell released from my life the day I left him. I wasn’t sad, I was free! I knew then I couldn’t be defeated, will never be alone because I always have God protecting me. He is the constant in my life and I don’t depend on any flawed human before I depend on God. This is my testimony and I share it with anyone who may be in that same situation I was in, and also never to doubt or sneer at anyone who speaks in tongues. It is the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is a language only you and God can understand, not another human and certainly not satan.
Please do not feel bad for me for that kind of experience. It was unfortunate at the time but I am in a very good place currently and I thank God for those types of experiences and draw strength from it when needed.
Until my next rant… LOVE ONE ANOTHER!
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