The Enemy Wants To Wear You Out
Daniel the prophet said that in the end times, the anti-Christ would “wear out the saints of the Most High…” (Dan 7:25b). The spirit of anti-Christ is at work in the world right now, and it comes against us in the form of little things that keep weighing on us. They drain our creative energies and work to rob us of our spiritual integrity unit by unit. These don’t quite qualify as sins-they are just unnecessary weights. It begins with the wisdom of knowing what to take on and what to let go.
Children need to learn two principles when they are young. First, they need to learn the principle of discipline: Life is not doing what you want to do; it’s doing what you ought to do. Secondly, they should learn the principle of priorities: Your relationship with God is the single most important relationship in your life. Second is family; third is your ministry and calling. We must encourage them-and ourselves-to get godly priorities and discipline themselves to follow them.
Improper priorities can quickly overload us with duties, commitments, and projects that lead far from where we belong. The greatest danger is that “the temporal” will crowd out “the eternal.”
Very few church problems are based on eternal issues. The problems usually stem from disagreements about minor “temporal” or non-eternal things such as: “my money,” “my piano,” “my church,” “my rights…” Very few church meeting turn contentious over questions of false doctrine, but countless church congregations have split after disagreeing about money disbursement decisions, church decorations, and even placement of coat racks in the foyer!
We tend to be more “problem conscious” than “power conscious.” Perhaps this is why Jesus instructed His disciples on one occasion to come aside or come apart for a while. (See Mark 6:31.) If you don’t “come apart for a while,” then you might “fall apart in a long while.” Jesus set the example for us by taking time to “unload” in the presence of His Father.
Satan has made it his priority to keep the saints of God from their priorities. He does his best to keep us bogged down in “things” that we forget to spend time with God. As a result, were are driven by debt, fear, and loneliness. Pharaoh and the taskmasters of Egypt attempted to wear out the children of Israel; in our day, the enemy increases our “Egyptian” responsibilities hoping to do the same thing. We must learn to apply the principles of “unloading” so we can decrease the enemy’s ability to overload us. If you don’t unload, you will definitely overload (and maybe even blow a fuse!).
Book: The Daily Chase by Tommy Tenney - ISBN 076846000x
Posted By: Kevin Gunnells
Monday, December 15th 2008 at 5:37PM
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