Dear Reader,
Although this post is not graphic, I allude to a visual assault I experienced. Depending on your history, this could potentially trigger something that happened to you. Please take this into account as you read.
Before I Knew Who I Was
Although I can’t remember what the man looked like, my body still remembers the experience.
I was out for a run when the man waved me down from a parked car to ask for directions.
I’m not sure why I stopped…
Maybe because life seemed a bit safer four decades ago, or it could have been due to my youthful naivete; I couldn’t imagine anything bad happening on a busy road in San Antonio in daylight hours.
Besides, the guy was holding a map, for goodness sake, and he was asking for directions. It made sense to me.
I helpfully explained that he was going the wrong way: he needed to make a U-turn and get into the left lane. As I continued to give him detailed directions, the man moved the map onto the passenger seat. Although I was mainly looking straight ahead as I pointed to where he could turn, without the map for cover, my peripheral vision picked up that the man was naked from the waist down. If that wasn’t bad enough, he was—(ahem)— “tending” to himself in a manner that shocked me.
My brain froze.
I tried to act like I hadn’t noticed what he was doing—a consequence of my shock—so I finished my sentence like nothing happened.
Then my brain screamed, “RUN!”
I took off in a sprint like I was running in the Olympics and didn’t slow down until I was safely behind my dead-bolted apartment door…
…then I vomited.
Forty years later, I still feel nauseous if I think about it.
A Do-Over
Fast forward thirty-five years.
I was running again, this time in Liberty Park, Jersey City. As I rounded the corner and headed toward the water, I saw the Statue of Liberty off in the distance.
I also noticed a guy sitting on the park bench several hundred yards away.
Although I didn’t have a logical reason to be uneasy—it was daylight on a cold winter’s morning— I had a pit in the bottom of my stomach.
Sure, that was weird, but I carried on running anyway.
Christ in Me
My uneasiness prompted me to focus on the Statue of Liberty and not on the guy on the bench. However, once I got close, I noticed his pants were down around his ankles, and he was— (ahem)—“tending” to himself in a manner that shocked me.
Oh, NO! Not again!
My brain froze, and fear commanded me to stare straight ahead; I didn’t want to acknowledge that I had been forced into his peep show.
I ran straight past the guy but suddenly felt an overwhelming “HELL NO” bubble up in my spirit. It was enough to stop me in my tracks and spin me around to glare into his face.
Using my best cheerleader-trained voice, I bellowed: “IN THE NAME OF JESUS, PUT THAT THING AWAY!”
…I may or may not have pointed at “the thing.”
The man responded like a cockroach scurrying for safety when a light was turned on; he grabbed the waistband of his trousers, hoisted them up to his thighs, and bolted to the safety of his car.
I couldn’t resist giving the man one last word of encouragement: “For God’s sake, get some help for yourself!”
I then began to pray that God would heal him.
Unlike the last time this happened to me, instead of feeling nauseous, I felt empowered.

The Difference
Perhaps you’re wondering why I responded so differently to the two men who had exposed themselves to me. Although I was certainly older (and I’d like to think wiser), when the man in Jersey City visually assaulted me, the difference in my response came from learning to embrace my identity in Christ.
“For in him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” (Col 2:9-10)
Because I understood that the fullness of the risen Christ dwells inside of me, I knew that I had the power and authority to confront any power of darkness that came against me. In other words, if Jesus did it, I can, too.
Before I even got close to that man, I believe the Holy Spirit warned me that I would be assaulted by a spirit of darkness that wanted to slime me. Although I was tempted to allow fear to cause me to run away in disgust and shame, the Holy Spirit reminded me that our struggle is not against flesh and blood (the man) but rather, it is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph 6:12).
Instead of me running away from the man, he had no choice but to run away from me.
“The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)
This revelation also allowed me to have compassion for the man while expressing anger at the spirit operating in him.
Sure, I was angry at the guy, especially as I knew he could have done this to a woman unprepared to stand up to his evil behavior, but I didn’t wish him harm. I prayed that God would meet him in his wickedness and turn his life around for good.
What About You?
Perhaps you’re wondering what these encounters have to do with you.
First, my experience is not a prescription for what you should do if you ever find yourself in a similar situation. I believe God’s spirit will guide you if you expect Him to and are open to listening. By the time I encountered that man in Jersey City, I had been practicing hearing God’s voice and stepping out in faith for quite some time. It was normal for me to go for a run and ask God to show me who to pray for or help along the way.
What’s important to take away from this post is that if you are a follower of Christ, God has given you the power and authority to do what Jesus did. He confronted the powers of darkness to set people free from oppression and sickness. This is what He meant when he said he came to bring God’s kingdom to earth.
The problem is that most people either don’t understand their authority in Christ or fear stepping out in faith. I wrote about this in a previous post about healing. This is a great shame because Jesus didn’t die just so that we could be assured a ticket to heaven. He expected that we would release heaven on earth wherever we went.
It’s Your Turn
Imagine what the world would be like if every follower of Jesus knew their true identity in Christ, not only to love people well but to stand up to the powers of evil that operate in their lives. I suspect there would be fewer people acting out on park benches to intimidate anyone passing by. Just sayin’…
This is a good time to pause to ask God a few questions about your walk with Him:
- Are there areas of my life where I don’t walk in the full authority that Jesus died to give me?
- Do I beg You to do things for me that You want me to do with You (like heal the sick or cast out demons.)?
- What is keeping me from utilizing the full authority that I have as Your son or daughter?
- Have I mistakenly assumed that people are the problem rather than seeing that my battle is not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of darkness operating in them?
- What do you want me to do about this, God?
This post may raise questions about your own faith walk. Please feel free to reach out for help and post your comments below. If you have a question, I’m sure someone else does, too.