The assault of Orphan Spirit

Abandonment, rejection, lust, addiction, rebelliousness, competition, shame, comparison, rivalry, jealousy, compulsion, accusation, exposure, escapism, guardedness, un-teachability, aggressiveness and hostility are all subservient underlings or extended tentacles of a demonic stronghold that has paralyzed men and women in American culture for decades:  The Orphan Spirit.  His grip tightens every year because of our society’s values, but his means and message is nothing new . 

The strategy/spirit started before the creation of mankind when the Father chose humanity over Lucifer. It was from the beginning of humanity when the enemy amplified the rejection of Cain’s offering to God as a rejection of Cain himself.  Cain killed Abel, because he mistakenly thought Abel was a favored son and he (Cain) was rejected.  The lie is a strong, subtle and multi-level continuous loop, playing over and over in the minds of humanity, motivating their desperate acts, “The father is pleased with and has chosen to include someone and it is not you”.  The spiritual message is reinforced in the natural realm with every man that abandons his family or beats his children or worse ignores them completely.  The Orphan Spirit is behind every Ishmael vs. Isaac, every Esau vs. Jacob.  The orphan feels as though he must fight for everything and take what he wants because he will never receive the blessing, inheritance, peace or identity that a father would have given him.  The orphan spirit is behind the fighting between Jacob and Esau (Israel and Arabs) even until this day, not because the little strip of land is so valuable, but because of what it represents.  It is a declaration of inheritance for the promised son and a rejection label of orphan over the other.  Never mind that all humanity has been grafted into the blessing of Abraham through Christ, the orphan spirit blinds their eyes to that truth.  Their pain and rejection causes them to lash out and act out and so it is with those of us who have been branded with orphan spirit’s lies. 

Orphan spirit is behind every class clown that talks out of turn and every bully that beats up someone weaker because they are both crying out for significance and the attention that a father would have given them. Much like building a brick wall, the orphan spirit lays foundations of fear and insecurity into every part of the orphan’s life that is harder to penetrate and harder to climb over time.  Orphan spirit is driven to release his nature into those he torments, including anxiety, frustration, isolation, striving.  Orphan spirit could never let weak humanity realize they already had been given everything.   Orphan spirit teaches us to point the finger at someone else who took from us rather than come to the father and ask for what is ours.  Orphan spirit robs us of the ability to rejoice with or love our brothers and sisters, instead pointing them out as the ones who took from us what we deserved.  Orphan spirit tells us he is protecting us and keeping us safe by not allowing us to form any close relationships which ironically is the only thing that can heal us. Those tortured and tormented by the orphan spirit don’t even know most of the time their desire to be  lovingly corrected and instructed and to have their character and identity revealed, which is the sacred ministry of a father that orphan spirit steals from us.

On an individual scale, the orphan spirit screams “that’s not fair”, while in desperation and lack of trust and faith drives us to buy the lottery ticket.  It defines its captives by creating envy and jealousy between the have’s and have nots, which usually results in fighting if not violence.  People controlled by the orphan spirit struggle and fight with everyone trying to claim a land they think has been given to someone else.    They push everyone away the way they feel pushed away, outside the circle or into the margin. They are blinded, usually by hatred, sometimes by addiction and self medication to the deep need they are really searching for:  Sonship, acceptance, value, identity and significance that is already theirs because of the Son who has given us everything he has received from the Father.  The revelation of spiritual Sonship can even reverse the effects of orphan spirit in the natural realm.  It may take years, but it will happen.   Those of us who only knew anger,fear and punishment from our natural fathers can know the love and acceptance of heavenly Father who will break down the paradigms and structures that orphan spirit has built into our lives and relationships.    The orphan spirit hates you because you have been given an eternal inheritance he will never experience, not because of anything you did or said, but because you were a son or daughter born into the family of God. 

Orphan spirit knows exactly when he has control of you.  It is the defining moment when basic trust is lost.  Once that bridge has been crossed, his next move is to put you in control of your own (false) comfort and defining your own identity which is really his and not the Fathers.  Usually it takes place with possessions, or addictions or striving for acceptance.  As long as orphan spirit can keep us feeling rejected by the Father it is easy to keep us under his power. 

I personally have experienced a long journey out of the orphanage into the family of God and the peace is hard to describe, but believe me it is worth it and He is good.  He has everything planned out for you in advance, no need to strive, there is plenty, he is a good father.  Time to trust again, right now if you will let him, the Holy Spirit will put the Spirit of his Son in your heart so that you can cry out (honestly) Daddy and feel comfort and cared for maybe for the first time in a long time.