She said it so confidently. “Same demon, different body.” There are times as a counselor that someone speaks a word so good that I pray to always remember it. Honestly, I don’t know how I could forget it. This statement rocked me. 

Sitting across from a person twenty years my junior, I listened as they shared traumatic moments of their life and the history of men crossing every boundary ever asserted, and then some. We chatted about that once viral trend in asking a woman if she rather face a bear instead of a man in the woods. With intense confidence and quiet strength, they too agreed that the bear was the less threatening option. 

Having faced both the man and the bear (quite literally), I get the conundrum fully. The evil we do to each other, despite knowing what I know, and having studied as I’ve studied, is still beyond my scope of human understanding. But alas it seems to be a consensus that we [humanity] will face the same demon we know rather than take our chances with a demon we don’t. 

What captivated me about their story was the way this person spoke with such vulnerability yet despite their broken history, they exude a joy that is unmistakably that of being before the presence of God. Much like Moses, their face radiates the light of having encountered the Lord and their heart is still so full of hope. Looking at them, one would never know the demons they have had to face. They lamented that they just wanted to give their heart to another person and to fully give them all they had to offer. They want true love, love that honors God, where they can be loved and be taken care of, “for real,” they stated. Their optimism and hope is sincere, wholesome and quite lovely. 

As I listened to their story, I felt a great sense of conviction fall over me. Do I have this type of faith? Do I hope in the Lord the way they do? The idea of a same demon in a different body resonated with me regarding all sin. Whether it’s sexual brokenness, eating disorders, addictions, etc. the act may be different, but the sin is all the same. The lies we believe are still the same, because they come from the father of lies (John 8:44). 

Scripture tells us that satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). The greatest weapon satan has is that of deception. This puts the concept of a man or bear in the woods, or “same demon different body” in a whole new light. 

Since the garden of Eden, satan’s first weapon with humanity was to cause doubt in the heart of Eve. As the master deceiver, he went straight for the jugular, Adam and Eve’s intimate and personal relationship with the Lord. “Did God really say…” (Gen 3:1). The amount of doubt that one question created is evidenced in the subsequent events which led to the fall of humanity or better stated, the rebellion (Gen 3: 1-7). 

How often has the enemy whispered lies to you that caused your own heart to doubt God? How often has he struck the right chord or pressed the right insecurity? 

“You’re never gonna find a spouse. May as well just get what you want with this person.” 

“It’s just sex… It’s just a little p*rn… it’s just a little lie… it’s just a little stealing… it’s just, just, just… Everyone does it.”

“No one loves you, just end it all.”

Sound familiar? Those “just” statements that minimize sin, those manipulative statements that get you what you want, those buttons pressed that scratch the itch of self-sufficiency and pride. The tragic reality on the devil’s side is that we are willing to listen. I say we and I mean, we. No matter how much I know these truths, I too find myself constantly falling prey to the lies that promise fulfillment in a temporary high. Whether it’s the seemingly harmless temptation to fantasize about something, and friends, it’s never harmless… fantasy is from the pit of hell. (More on THAT later…). Or whether it’s not maintaining food boundaries and forfeiting abstinence from sugar, or being tempted to protect myself with a simple lie, the enemy knows exactly what buttons to push to tempt me into believing the lies that cause doubt in my heart. Harmful lies that aim to destroy intimacy with the only person to fully know me, even the ugliest parts of me, and still love me [Jesus]. Once the “doubt creeps in” to say it like one of my favorite musicals, Hadestown, the enemy gains my attention and I then turn from the One who has been the most loving and the most faithful to me! Because of doubt, I turn to scratch an earthly and deadly itch. 

Tim Keller shared that the devil knows which notes to push on your heart. He works in two ways, accusation and temptation. In accusation he heightens the Lord’s holiness and wrath on sin and hides the Lord’s love. In temptation he heightens the Lord’s love and hides his holiness (Keller, 2015, “Spiritual Warfare,” 22:48, YouTube). 

Since the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy, every time I sin, I am yoking myself to him and aiding him in the killing process. I become an accessory to self-harm. I co-sign on the lie. I not only choose death and sin, but I give approval to it and therefore forfeit truth for a lie. If we’re honest with ourselves, the lie is always disappointing. It never satisfies. In believing the lie, or giving way to doubt, I forfeit good for evil. On the other hand, by yoking myself to the Lord, I am pursuing life and the identity he has given me. In taking God at His word, I walk in my identity and purpose. By speaking truth into a lie I triumph over satan’s schemes and put faith in the rightful place where doubt so desperately wants to live. There is a choice to make. I pray to choose truth! I pray you choose truth!

The concept of “same demon different body” applies to all sin. In this war for our affections, I wonder how often we choose the same demon simply because of exhaustion. Fighting is hard. It takes its toll. Isolation and choosing to fight on your own is one of the key reasons we give way to sin. We are stronger in community. Proverbs 18:1 tells us, “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment” (ESV). If we’re honest with ourselves we know that there are times when we are actively seeking isolation. These are seasons where we do not want correction, connection, or conviction. We want our sin. We want that same demon. It’s familiar and even, comforting. Friends, this ought not be so.  Being a child of God has given us a new identity. 

I had breakfast with a beloved sister this weekend and we were discussing the man vs bear and she too agreed on the bear. As I was sharing the story of my actual encounter with a bear, yes, a real life bear, we laughed at the scary irony of it all. In sitting there I realized that much like Martha in the Mary and Martha analogy, I think the bear gets the short end of the stick in this little scenario. 

A bear is savage. He is meant to be. He is a wild animal, made by God to be as such. We invade his home and then get angry that he exists. Poor bear. I have a point, I promise. Stay with me. 

The Lord made his children to be bold and brave and in the face of an evil generation, we are to rise up and speak the truth we believe. As I’m thinking about all this over breakfast potatoes, I turn to my friend Randi, and tell her that as children of God, we’re meant for more. Satan knows this. It’s why he works so hard to deceive us and to cause doubt. He knows the potential. This is one of my greatest pet peeves. Wasted potential. I tell her that sometimes I feel like a caged bear. Like I have been put in a cage and chained up so that I could calm my true identity. My whole life I’ve been told to be a giraffe but I’m not a giraffe, I’m a bear! 

I feel this is all believers. We are meant for so much more but settle for pathetic lies that attempt to tame us, when really we are meant to be wild and untamed. We are to be passionate, ferocious people who thrive in adversity and who shine bright as beacons of hope in darkness. But instead we’ve become domesticated (shout out to Erwin Raphael McManus). Instead, I’ve fallen for the lie that I’m meant to be or that I should want to be a giraffe. But I can never be one, cause I’m meant to be who I really am. In being domesticated, I have adapted to imprisonment instead of allowing my ferocity to demolish the chains and flee from the cage my Savior literally came to destroy. 

Think about it. As a Christian, I (& you) am a ferocious and wild bear and instead of walking in that identity, I settle for the cage. Tamed and domesticated into silence and submission. I have been lied to. And so have you. In the man vs bear debate, why must we fight against each other in the truth about evil. We know the heart of man is wicked. The Lord himself recognized the sinful heart of man very early on (Gen. 6:5). So, encountering a man in the woods is indeed terrifying because of that. But we ourselves carry that within us. We can’t outrun the evil within us. Spiritually, we are the man. Every single one of us. We have the ability to do atrocious evil. This is why we need a Savior to eradicate that wickedness within us. 

But, we are also the bear. The savage wild nature that beckons us to use our ferocity to destroy the enemy’s lies, our own internal wickedness, the evil man within us, the doubt and lies that hinder our true potential. We have the power to take God at His word and destroy those same demons, in different bodies. I’m not speaking in literal terms here. I mean it spiritually. (Don’t go hurt anyone on account of me!) Take the lies that cause doubt and wreck them with the savage truth of scripture that Jesus came to set the captives free and we are free indeed! So, let’s go live like it! 

In sharing all this with Randi, I tell her that I too sometimes doubt and before I could explain that thought she looks and me and boldly states, “but you’re the bear!” We laughed. It was perfect. We sat there and reminded each other of our identity in the Lord. It was all very Braveheart and we left breakfast feeling inspired and ready to fight [against the schemes of satan]. 

So, friends, if you’ve made it to the end of this wild blogpost, in the battle against the same demons different bodies, get you friends that will remind of you your true identity and fight on! Fight the lies. Destroy the doubts. Fight the chains impressed upon you and make King Jesus known! Be the wild bear of faith you were born to be and walk in truth and freedom! 

Fight on!