The Difference Between Oppression and Possession

When people think about someone being tormented by demons, a lot of things come to mind. Many jump straight to iconic images from film and television (heads spinning around, vomiting pea soup, you get the idea). These types of theatrics are signs of possession, where a demon is actually inside the person's body and manipulating them. Possession is pretty rare in the grand scheme of things. Oppression, on the other hand, is VERY common.

Oppression takes many forms. Some common signs that you are being oppressed include: seeing things move out of the corner of your eye, hearing things, shadows moving on their own, a feeling of something being wrong in a particular room in the house, unwanted dark or malevolent thoughts or feelings, bug infestations, unexpected strife in relationships, being touched, clawed, or bitten by something you can't see, and others.

The thing is, 99% of the time demons are going to take the path of least resistance. They want to get you off balance and off track. The easiest way to do that is to distract you. The next easiest way is to frighten you. If they can distract you from your God-given purpose by presenting you with a new shiny thing to obsess on or family drama to be emmeshed in, then that's easy and they'll do that. If that fails, they can try harassment through fear by getting you jumping at the shadows they create. If that fails, then they have to get more creative. A "plague" of cockroaches, a face appearing in a mirror, a scratch on your arm.

This is oppression 101. They are not inside you, but they can still whisper things to you and manipulate your thoughts so that you do get distracted, depressed, angry, etc. The great news is, fighting back is easy.

It's all about casting the demons out of the room, out of the house, or wherever you are at this point. Do it every time you notice you're being harassed. Keep at it. Learn what distracts you and learn to fortify against it. "In the name of Jesus Christ whose blood was shed on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins, I command you to get out of here right now." Invoke the blood and command them to go.

Say the words out loud and put as much force as you can into them (even if you can only whisper). Saying the words out loud makes them real to YOU and eliminates that little bit of doubt in your brain that says "I look like an idiot, this is stupid, nothing is going on." Putting voice to the words means you have to commit to them. If you have no voice, then you need to scream the words in your head with as much force as you can. Do this every time something is bugging you or your suspect that it could be.

Most people will never see someone who is actually possessed. However, every Christian who is doing what God has called them to do WILL experience oppression (whether or not they know it or are willing to admit it). It's a part of our spiritual walk. Learn to shake it off. You can even see it as confirmation that you are on the right path!