My second daughter turned 14 years old over this past weekend. As I watched her enjoy her birthday celebrations, I was reminded of her as a newborn infant, clutching to only me at first, rooting for my breast. Her actions were that of one who could detect the unique signature odor of her mother and rested in the comfort and trust which that scent represented.
I woke this morning being instructed by the Holy Spirit. As I slowly awoke, I heard the statements:
• “Sin multiplies.”
• “Sin carries a stench.”
• “Unclean spirits are attracted to that scent.”
• “Sin, when it is full blown, leads to death.”
I not only heard the statements but saw scripture references simultaneously: Genesis 6; Genesis 4; Romans 6; James 1. So I hopped out of bed, grabbed my study tools and, with the memory of my daughter as an infant and those 4 statements as my focal points, went to studying. I found out something very important: spirits are attracted by the spiritual odor I exude. My scent attracts and repels. Managing my spiritual scent then is another strategy of spiritual warfare.
In my research, I found out that each person has a distinct odor, a natural scent called their signature odor. For newborn infants, though they can’t recognize their mother by sight, their highly sensitive sense of smell causes them to recognize their mother by her natural scent, by her signature odor. I also discovered that my infant becomes so familiar with my scent that she can even detect the difference, in odor, between my breast milk and that of another mother’s. This is why mothers of newborn infants are often cautioned against wearing strong scents such as perfumes or fragrance skin products. The baby’s sense of smell is so sensitive that strong scents/odors can become overwhelming and interfere with their sense of taste.
Wanting to understand what the Spirit was teaching me, I delved further into my research on body odor. You see, I have learned from the word and from experience that the natural, physical world mirrors the spiritual world in some ways. If we exude scents/odors from our bodies from which others can detect and extract accurate information, then our spirits also exude scents/odors from which other spirits can detect and extract accurate information about our condition or state. Our body odor can inform a sensitive or highly trained individual of various body conditions (like problems with specific organs, hormonal changes, disorders), choices (like diet), emotional state, and life stages.
As I thought on this and its parallel in the spiritual realm, I was reminded of the fact that not only am I an ‘ezer, a watcher, but I am also being watched and being targeted. After all, I am in a war. Just as I am studying warfare, so that I would not be ignorant of my adversary’s devices, even so he is studying me as prey (1 Peter 5:8). The clues I give, through the scents my spirit exude, inform that predator of my state. Then he chooses whether to retreat or attack.
But this doesn’t only apply to me. It applies to everyone, even my children who may not be as skilled in the warfare as I am. I thought of my 14-year old daughter, her current stage in life and her hormonal shifts which will likely affect her emotional state. I thought of what “odor” she may be emitting spiritually that may get the attention and “favor” of unwanted spirits. I pictured them, just like the beast who crouched at Cain’s door, waiting for a foothold to enter in and master/overpower him (Genesis 4:5-7).
I thought, “For the sake of my children, I need to manage my spiritual scent so that my children’s spirit can always locate my unique, signature odor AND find that place of safety, comfort and rest.” I cannot afford for my scent to be masked by the cares and stresses of life, lest they would not be able to find their ezer warrior that God has assigned to them for their “help”. For their sake, I must manage my scent so that I do not attract unwanted attention and cause them to have to fight unnecessary battles.
This Mother’s Day 2020, I want to encourage you, as an ezer warrior for your family, to manage your scent. Don’t let your children or those entrusted in your care smell the stench of anxiety or fear exuding from you. Don’t let the cares of life so overwhelm and overcharge you that your environment becomes a beacon for unclean spirits. Fill your space with the aroma of sacrificial praise and sacrificial worship. Attract the presence and favor of God and repel the crouching and stalking of the adversary. This Mother’s Day reproduce for your children the first gift they got from you, after birth, the gift of your scent.
DIG DEEPER:
Bible Study: What’s that Smell?