The Lord's Battle/Poem/Unknown

The Lord's Battle

Once there was this very wealthy young man. He lived in a great,
elaborate house with dozens of rooms. Each room was more
comfortable and more beautiful than the one before it. There were
paintings and sculptures. Crystal chandeliers, golden, ornate
railings on the stairs. More beauty than most have ever seen.

One day he decided to invite the Lord to come home and stay
with him. When the Lord arrived, this young man offered him the
very best room in the house. The room was upstairs and at the
end of the hall.

"This room is yours, Jesus! Stay as long as you like and you
can do whatever you want to in this room, remember Jesus, its
all yours." "Thank you" the Lord replied, and with that the man
shut the door and went about his daily business.

That evening after he had retired for the night there came a
loud knocking at the front door. The young man pulled on his
robe and made his way downstairs. When he opened the door he
found that the devil had sent three of his demons to attack
the man. He quickly tried to close the door but one of the
demons kept sticking his foot in.

Sometime later, after a great struggle, he managed to slam the
door shut and returned to his room totally exhausted. "Can you
believe that?!" The man thought. "Jesus is upstairs in my very
best room sleeping while I am down here battling demons. Oh,
well, maybe he just didn't hear."

He slept fitfully that night. The next day things went along
as normal and, being tired as he was, the young man retired
early that evening. Along about midnight, there came such a
terrible ruckus at the front door that the young man was sure
that whatever it was would tear the door down. He stumbled
down the stairs once again and opened the door to find that
there were dozens of demons now trying to get into his
beautiful home.

For more than three hours he fought and struggled against the
demons from hell and finally overtook them enough to shut the
door against their attack. All energy seemed to fail him. He
really didn't understand this at all. "Why won't the Lord come
to my rescue? Why does he allow me to fight all by myself? I
feel so alone."

Troubled, he found his way to the sofa and fell into a restless
sleep. The next morning he decided to inquire of the Lord about
the happenings of the last two evenings. Quietly he made his
way to the elegant bedroom where he had left Jesus. "Jesus," he
called as he tapped at the door. "Lord, I don't understand what
is happening. For the last two nights I have had to fight the
demons away from my door while you laid up here sleeping. Don't
you care about me? Did I not give you the very best room in the
house? He could see the tears building in Jesus' eyes but
continued on, "I just don't understand. I really thought that
once I invited you in to live with me that you would take care
of me and I gave you the best room in my house and everything.
What more can I do?"

"My precious child," Jesus spoke so softly. " I do love and
care for you. I protect all that you have released into my care.
But when you invited me to come here and stay, you brought me
to this lovely room and you shut the door to the rest of your
house. I am Lord of this room but I am not Master of this house.
I have protected this room and no demon may enter here."

"Oh, Lord, please forgive me. Take all of my house - it is yours.
I am so sorry that I never offered you all to begin with. I want
you to have control of everything." With this he flung open the
bedroom door and knelt at Jesus' feet. "Please forgive me Lord
for being so selfish."

Jesus smiled and told him that He had already forgiven him and
that He would take care of things from now on. That night as the
young man prepared for bed he thought to himself, "I wonder if
those demons will return. I am so tired of fighting them each
and every night." But he knew that Jesus said that he would take
care of things from now on.

Along about midnight the banging on the door was frightening. The
young man slipped out of his room in time to see Jesus going
down the stairs. He watched in awe as Jesus swung open the door,
no need to be afraid. Satan stood at the door this time demanding
to be let in.

"What do you want, Satan?" the Lord asked. The devil bowed low
in the presence of the Lord, "So sorry, I seem to have gotten the
wrong address." And with that, he and the demons all ran away.

~ Author Unknown ~