By Brenda Cannon Henley
A funny thing happened to me about ten days ago and I have been considering the incident since. I was being driven to an appointment by a friend and the sky darkened quickly and fairly heavy clouds began to fill the sky. The wind kicked up suddenly and drops starting falling. The driver turned on the windshield wipers and they began making a steady rhythm as they cleared the water off the glass.

Nothing unusual about sudden showers. They come and go and we are certainly accustomed to them when you live on or near water. My friend started tapping out the rhythm on the steering wheel. He paused and asked quite seriously, “Do you hear it?” I was somewhat puzzled and asked, “What do you mean? Do I hear the rain, the windshield wipers, or your tapping?”

He smiled and said, “The sound the windshield wipers are making?” I listened more carefully trying to get the jest of what he was saying. Finally, he said, “I have listened to these new wipers for a while now. They are saying, ‘Piz-za, piz-za, piz-za.'” I listened more intently and came to my own conclusion.

The wipers could be saying “piz-za,” as they cleared the windshield, but they could be saying other two-syllable words as well. I think it might come down to what we have stored in our individual brains and how well we listened. Might even have a lot to do with what we are conditioned to hear or expect to discern.

We laughed and enjoyed our little rain game. Several days later, while thinking about the matter, I realized that perhaps they were saying, “piz-za,” or maybe my friend wanted to stop at a favorite original pizza place for lunch after the appointment.

Writers and speakers often store seemingly useless tidbits of information in their minds to bring up later or for an original idea or illustration. If one has been writing for a very long time, that stored file is extensive and very meaningful. This very thing happened to me.

I believe the devil uses something very similar when he is working on defeating, disillusioning, or damaging us. The power of suggestion is strong and capable. Our minds and hearts can be changed or re-programmed to accept false or hurtful information in our lives. If we hear something often enough, give thought to it, and allow it to take root, we can be hurt badly.

Just as my mind was changed to hear “piz-za,” the old wily devil can tell us often enough we are not loved, have not been successful, will not achieve, or we will be lonely, ill, or frightened for the rest of our lives that we will come to believe it. Our spirits will sink in sadness, our personality can change, and we hurt. The repetition drives it home. We don’t have to accept his assaults. We can live happy and abundant lives even in this day and age.

We must learn to recognize the wiles of the devil and be able to quote the marvelous Word of God back to him as he persists.

“Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” (Matthew 16:33)

Brenda Cannon Henley can be reached at 409 781 8788, or
[email protected]

[Oct-26-2020]