Pig Woman Delivered from Demons: How to Shatter the Darkness

When I was first saved in such a dramatic and unusual way, a lot of people observed me and said:

“Oh, there is T. L. Osborn’s grandson. It’s obvious that he was going to be a preacher all along because it’s his birthright. It’s in his blood.” What they don’t realize, however, is that the first miracle of my ministry was my own miracle.

The devil really tried to destroy me and I was cooperating with him. It was only when I started cooperating with God that I could walk in my birthright. Likewise, God can’t do big things with you unless you cooperate with His plan. My cooperation with God made the miracle of my salvation possible.

The Bible says, “As He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17, NKJV). Jesus said, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21, NKJV). As you and I cooperate with Him, we become ambassadors for Christ and our ministry reveals the miracles He has done for us. Has God saved you? If so, He wants to save others through you. Has He healed you? If so, He wants to heal others through you. Has He helped you? If so, let Him help others through you. Let Him feed the hungry and visit the sick and the prisoners through you. Let Him love through you, deliver through you, and bless through you!

This is what ministry is. God reveals Himself to us so He might reveal Himself through us to others. Everything God has given us, He wants to share through us. He wants to use us as a channel of His healing power.

The great mystery of the Gospel is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27, NKJV). That is why I say that we are the answer to the world’s problems. We are the solution. We are the medicine for the world’s ills. We have the cure for crime. We have the cure for AIDS. We have the cure for cancer. We have the answer for mental illness. We have the power of deliverance. We have the solution for all of mankind’s problems because what God does to us, He wants to do through us. Jesus said, “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8, NKJV).

Shine Your Light in the Darkness

A lot of people think that somehow they’re less effective when they go to a place where there is a lot of spiritual darkness or witchcraft. They don’t understand this simple truth that I call the “parallel of the light.” If you light a candle and walk outside during the daytime or hold it up in a well-lit church with the sun shining through the windows, it is not going to make much difference. But if you’re in a remote village someplace at midnight and there is no moon or any electric lights, your candle will shine the brightest.

When you go out into the darkest spiritual places, God’s light shines the brightest. That is where you can make the most difference. That is where your light really shines. The Bible says that where sin abounds, grace does much more abound (Romans 5:20). That means that our light shines the brightest where the darkness is the greatest. When we carry our light to the places where there are Muslims or idol worshippers or where there is a lot of sin, demons or witchcraft, our light shines even brighter. We are not diminished by the darkness. We are more powerful because of the contrast of light and dark, therefore, we can minister with more effectiveness.

Most Christians spend all of their lives shining their candles out in the full sunlight or in places where there is already plenty of light. Why is this? I believe it is because they are afraid of the darkness; they don’t have full confidence in the Light. The Bible says the light shines in the darkness and the darkness could not quench or extinguish it (John 1:5). Believe in the Light of Christ in you. Believe in its power. The darkness is nothing compared to the Light. Evil is nothing compared to good. This is literally true.

I am going to say something philosophical that is going to make you think a little bit. Thinking is good! It’s good to use your brain. God gave you your brain. Think about this: What is darkness, anyway? Darkness does not exist as an actual thing. Darkness is simply the absence of light. So where there is no light, there is darkness. Darkness is not real in the same sense that light is real. Light is existent. You can do something with it. You can believe in it. In fact, the Bible says God is light (1 John 1:5, NKJV).

We don’t have to fear the darkness, even though Satan is the author of spiritual darkness. Satan wants to keep people from the Light of Christ. But what happens to darkness when light shines? It disappears! Darkness cannot coexist with light. Darkness has no actual existence, so we don’t have to dread it. All we need to do is to keep shining the light. When people are in darkness, they can’t see. They don’t know what to do and their actions are without any real coordination. When we shine the light, we expel the darkness. There is an old saying that is true and powerful: “Don’t curse the darkness; shine the light!” Light is the only answer to darkness. The only way to fight a lie is with truth. The only way to overcome wickedness is with love.

How do you shine the light? Preach Jesus! Announce the Gospel. The Gospel is the message of light that illuminates the darkness. Darkness disappears when the light of the Good News shines. Darkness can’t exist when there is light in a room. I want to shine the light of Jesus into the darkest places in the world, don’t you? I want to go forth boldly with courage, fearlessly shining the light of God’s love wherever the darkness prevails.

Evil does not exist as a real thing, just as darkness does not exist as a real thing. What? How can that be true? It is true because all evil is really good that has been twisted or perverted. Evil does not have any actual existence because the devil can’t create anything. Only God can create. The devil can’t create. He is essentially non-creative.

We read in the Book of Genesis that God created everything and He said that it was good. Then Satan came along and messed up what God had created. We can see this in satanic art, which is derivative, plagiaristic, and unoriginal. When the devil rebelled against God, he severed himself from God’s being, which is essentially creative. Since we are created in the image of God, we share that same desire for creation. The devil does not possess the creative impulse and has rebelled against the Author of everything that is beautiful. All he can do is corrupt that which was essentially created to be good. He takes something perfect and perverts it. There is nothing evil that God didn’t intend as good.

How do you overcome evil? The Bible says, “Overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21, NKJV). We don’t have to be terrified of the demonic, occult or any manifestation of spiritual darkness because we have the real thing. We don’t have to panic in the presence of evil because we have the One who is the true Light. Each one of us has been indwelt by the light-giving Spirit of the Most High God.

Our Purpose Is One

The sole purpose of our lives is to bring people to Jesus. The body of Christ is composed of many individuals. We have many different roles to play, but we need to be single-minded in our purpose. The Bible lists the gifts of the Holy Spirit, explaining there are diversities of operation but there is one Lord:

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ (1 Corinthians 12:1–13, NKJV).

There are many different gifts, styles and ministries, but we have to remember that the purpose is always singular. The sole purpose is to make people beautiful like Jesus. If you are a minister of music, you are first a soul-winner—a rescuer of souls. If you are a pastor, you are a rescuer of souls. If you are a teacher, you are a rescuer of souls.

A soccer team has a goalie, defensive players, and forwards. There are many different positions in soccer, but they all work together to accomplish the same purpose: Winning the game. Soccer players do not have ten goals; they have only one—scoring the most goals. It is the same with the body of Christ. We have one goal: To win people to Jesus and help them reflect His light. We reach the lost in order to liberate them for eternity. We desire to make disciples. That is our goal!

I am a singer and a guitar player. I’m also a preacher and have a healing ministry. One person can have more than one skill or talent. Look at the apostle Paul, who wrote that passage about the gifts of the Spirit. He didn’t give us that list of gifts so he could exclude people or narrow them down to only one gift. Think about it, Paul himself had the gift of prophecy, discerning of spirits, word of wisdom, word of knowledge, the gift of faith, the gift of healing, and probably more. He had all of those gifts in one person.

Definitely, some people have more gifts than others. And yet because we are all different parts of the body, we have only one purpose: To evangelize the world. We must always remember our goal. In our physical bodies, if one of our arms suddenly wanted to go this way and the other arm wanted to go that way, what could we accomplish? If one of our legs wanted to go its own way opposite from the other leg, we wouldn’t get anywhere, would we?

If everyone on a football team just ran around, nobody would ever win a game. It is important for the universal body of Christ to maintain its focus, always operating for God’s grand purpose and not being distracted with inconsequential matters. Remember, everything God does to you, He wants to do through you. Keep your eyes on the Lord. He saved you and He will help you shine your light where the darkness seems to be the most impenetrable.

The Pig Woman

The Light of Jesus in believers will shatter the darkness. That’s what it did with the woman everybody knew as the Pig Woman. When the Pig Woman walked into the service, every head turned. In the remote West African city where we were conducting a crusade, everyone recognized her face. At one time or another, they had all seen her roaming the streets. She was a mad woman—crazy! She had been that way for years. In fact, she was so disturbed that she actually lived and ate among the swine. That’s why the townsfolk called her the Pig Woman.

That night as she entered the packed sanctuary, it was obvious to everyone that she did not belong. She was dressed in rags that barely covered her frail body. Her hair was dirty and matted. The stench was almost unbearable. Her eyes were glazed and her movements were like those of a hunted animal, not a human.

At the climax of my message, the Pig Woman was escorted to the podium. Seeing her sad condition, I stretched out my hand toward her with compassion and declared in a confident voice, “In the name of Jesus, I command you to come out of her.” That instant, her body flew backward as though someone hit her square in the forehead with a two-by-four. Her legs shot out in front of her and she crashed to the floor.

Witnesses gasped in shock. For a moment, no one could tell if she was dead or alive. Everybody ran forward to see what had just happened. When the commotion subsided, I bent down and helped her back to her feet. As she rose, her eyes opened. They were no longer animal-like; instead, they were full of tears. She softly whispered, “They’re gone . . . gone!”

Emerging from the crowd, my wife, Elisabeth, opened her arms to embrace this woman. However, now aware of her unkempt state, the Pig Woman froze and stiffened against this kind gesture. She thought her smell would offend my wife, but Elisabeth did not let go of her. Instead, she held her even closer and said, “Now we’re sisters.” As the woman realized that she was now part of the family of God, she held Elisabeth closer and cried.