Midnight, about two weeks before my October 31^st birthday, and I felt tired! “Whew,” out of my basement I had dragged to the curb years of accumulated Halloween articles—devils, witches, anything that looked of the occult.

Driving home from the mall several hours earlier, I tuned into a local Christian radio station. The announcer discussed Halloween and the occult and how as Christians, we should not get involved in any aspect of it. I pulled my car over on Millersport Highway and turned into a church parking lot to listen more intently.

Wow, I thought, does the Bible really address topics such as fortune telling? I had no idea.

The radio preacher discussed the witch of Endor and Saul. Many verses cited in the Old and New Testament told about turning away from consulting mediums, sorcerers, astrology, or anything related to these.

“Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God,” Leviticus 19:31. Other verses such as Isaiah 47:13-15, Isaiah 47:13-15, Acts 16:16-19, and Acts 19:18-20 also command us to stay away from the occult. 

I definitely believed the Bible as God’s Word which has been proved over and over as valid and correct. 2 Timothy 3:16 states, “All Scripture is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

I needed to choose to follow God or my own desires—that of keeping and displaying decorations that didn’t reflect Him. 

  I felt convicted about my past behavior. In high school, I had written a monthly horoscope column, just made up of course. Later, I got involved in tarot card readings, the Ouija board, and regular trips to Lily Dale (a town in New York known for mediums).

When I finally got home from my drive that night, I started ripping the basement apart. Since my birthday is on Halloween, I dressed up every year for parties and at work visiting the patient’s rooms. Not a year had gone by when I didn’t come up with some outlandish costume. Outfits such as Little Boo Beep and the energizer bunny, which were innocent enough costumes. But I also had vampires and she-devils. 

While in the basement, I came across other occult materials, collected over the years. All the time I was involved with these things, I wanted to know the future or what to do with some aspect of my life. 

I realized that night while listening to the radio program, that I had not trusted God with my future and had shown a lack of faith. He has the answers for everything and gives me wisdom if I only listen to Him. Not through mediums and other crazy ways, but through His Word, the Bible, godly counsel, and prayer. As I meditate on Scripture today, I find answers to many of my problems or questions in life. 

For instance, I started reading the Bible initially because I wanted to know who to marry. God showed me the description of character of the man I would want as my husband—kind, patient, not proud—admitting his weaknesses, loving, not rude (as my personality had poorly shown for so many years). These are the qualities you hear about at weddings when pastors read the 1 Corinthians 13 chapter as most do.

What else? Someone that follows the Lord and wants His will for their life. And most of all I wanted someone I would enjoy spending time with. Did the Bible say that? I don’t think so, but it does talk about contentment and our desire for marriage to one person such that you never want to leave each other. Such a commitment is similar to what God says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” Hebrews 13:5. 

My past history of relationships with men focused almost exclusively on the outside. After spending time with someone, you see how the insides of a person matter even more.

You don’t want them to leave you or you them. That kind of love is hard to find and is described in Proverbs 31. Rare, and combined with character virtually impossible without His hand on our lives to control circumstances and events such that we’d ever meet someone remotely like that and who’s interested in me. All the while, He’s working on us and our insides so that we recognize the person and change into the likeness of Him—Jesus. 

That night resulted in a desire to want to please Him even more than I ever had. I wanted to obey God and tell others about His greatness and what He had done in my life. 

After throwing out the items from the basement, I turned the television on and sat down. Kirk Cameron was speaking. I didn’t know at the time that Kirk, previous star of the sitcom Growing Pains, had turned Christian evangelist. I listened closely as Kirk talked about winning souls for Christ and how to go about doing that. Swinging conversations from the natural to the spiritual and finding out what people believe. I wanted to be like Kirk Cameron I thought, doing more for God and not for me. That night I realized the call God had on my life—to help transform hearts and souls through the Word of God, one at a time. 

He truly does know the path we are to take. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He shall direct your path,” Proverbs 3:5-6. Knowing this made me choose to want to obey, because I know He loves me and knows what’s best for His sheep.

Born again Christian that loves to inspire others to know the Lord, share the Gospel, and walk in faith. I'm a physical therapist and I take care of my ninety-three year old cute mom. I love teaching Bible studies, going on missions trips, exercising, and writing. Blog: joyluke157.wordpress.com