A few weeks ago, I put out a question on social media asking my followers what spirits they wanted me to write about. I was inundated with responses.

I had so much fun sifting through everyone’s comments. In the end, I chose the 10 spirits I was most familiar with. Here is the first one:

The Fantasy Spirit

The fantasy spirit is starting to gain more attention in Christian circles. As more immersive forms of entertainment emerge (i.e., movies, video games, and virtual reality), the fantasy spirit’s effect on people is becoming more apparent. But what does it look and feel like when the fantasy spirit attacks?

At its root, the fantasy spirit’s theme is escapism. The spirit thrives on keeping us distracted, weighed down with unhealthy imaginations, and lost in alternate realities.

Now, I am not saying that imagination is itself evil. God gave our brains an incredible ability to map out stories and ideas. It’s wonderful how architecture, inventions, and art can manifest from vivid creativity. But our imagination can be infiltrated by the enemy if we don’t protect it.

In my own life, the fantasy spirit manifested itself through my nighttime dreams. From the time I was a little girl, I had an active dream life. Most of these dreams seemed innocent. I’d be Snow White escaping the evil queen, or one of the Hardy Boys solving a mystery even the police couldn’t crack.

The problem was my obsession with these dreams began to leak into my daily life. Even after salvation, I’d fantasize about escaping my “boring” world in favor of heroic adventures. This obsession continued well into my marriage. 

You can imagine how much this struggle impacted my life. Eventually, I found myself at a crisis. Dissatisfied with how seemingly dull my life was, I started entertaining options for real means of escape. This led to a defining moment in my marriage where I had to choose between my non-heroic “Mom” life and an idealized, romantic adventure. 

I remember lying on the couch, begging God, “Please close this door of escape for me. I am not strong enough to choose correctly here. Just make me a robot so my only choice is righteousness.”

Thankfully, the Lord didn’t make me a robot. But He did close the door that was tempting me. This shows that your willingness to obey the Lord is your best first step towards freedom.