A long time ago, in a lifetime far, far away, I worked at a private psych hospital. It was my second job fresh out of college, with a “useful” degree in Psychology. My first job was in a group home with teenagers. I managed to stay on THAT job for four months. But that is a story for another time. My title at the psych hospital was, “Behavior Specialist.” How’s that for a title of a job? I had the word “special” in it. My job as “Behavior Specialist,” was to monitor the kids staying on the preadolescent floor. In other words, I had to make sure the twelve to thirteen year-olds didn’t kill themselves or each other. Most of the time, it was okay. But every once in awhile the kids went haywire.
We had a padded little room for the kids who did lose it and needed some time to themselves. And the pads were on the walls in case they decided head banging was their new occupation. What I loved about the psych hospital and what we didn’t have at the group home, were skills in taking patients down. I spent a week, before starting my job, on mats, learning the finer art of taking combative people to the floor and pinning them down without hurting them. It was awesome! Everybody that worked at the hospital (janitors, secretaries) had to be trained in this. Then if anyone called a code, whoever was nearby could come to the rescue and take down the out of control patients.
These kids had strict schedules to follow. They had school in the mornings. They had occupational therapy, art therapy and visits with their psychologists in the afternoons. My job was to observe the kids I was assigned to, and chart on them at the end of my shift. I had to note any behaviors and moods the kids showed. All of it was very psycho babble, blah, blah, blah. I knew the real reason those kids were there. I felt it. And I recognized his work.
One particular, bad day, the kids went haywire. All of them. It started with one kid harassing another kid, to the point, that kid went off. Like dominoes, all the other kids got set off. All of them got out of control. All of them were reacting badly. We had to call a code “green” so that anyone available could come help take kids down. We already had one kid in the padded room. The less violent kids were ordered to their rooms for quiet time. Some of the kids had to be taken down and brought to other padded rooms in the hospital. The kids were loud and screaming. They were combative and mean. It was mass chaos. I’m not sure of the time, but it seemed like it took an hour to get everyone calmed down. I was exhausted by the time it was over.
After we got all the agitators put away, I sat down at the end of the hall to make sure no one came out of their rooms. All the kids were supposed to be quiet and unseen. As a Christian, that wasn’t my only job. I began to pray. I prayed for God’s presence to be on that floor. I prayed for God’s blood to be on every doorway. I prayed for angels to come and stand at each bedroom door. I prayed that the enemy would be banished from there. And as God always does, He came because I called. He made His presence known to me. A quiet came upon the hall. It was an indescribable quiet, a reverent quiet. A peace washed over the hall. You could feel the peace. I continued praying and thanking Him. The quiet and peace were so overwhelming, I had to wipe my eyes to make sure no one saw me crying.
To walk with God in this life, is a far better thing, then the alternative. With God there is peace. People crave it. They want it so badly. But it only comes from God and no other. The enemy is nothing but chaos. God is not the author of chaos. The enemy is nothing but lies, upon lies, about who God is, who we are. I don’t think he’s capable of the truth. The enemy was at work that day in the hall. The enemy’s work is obvious: chaos, screaming, evil, anger, rebellion, noise, no peace. With God’s presence, there is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. All those things that weren’t there when the kids went haywire.
In times in your life, when you lack peace, you need to do a little research. The enemy is probably dancing on your head at that moment. Don’t think he’s not real. That’s another lie he wants you to believe. When you lack peace. When you lack the fruits of the Spirit, you’ve probably gotten tangled up in the enemy’s net. Know the difference between the two. Go to God, call to Him. He will come. And with Him comes the peace that passes all understanding.
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