Wearing Down the Saints

WEARING DOWN THE SAINTS

""And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One ..." Daniel 7:25

Last weekend as I opened up my Yahoo News, the headline article that grabbed my attention as this: "Is Life Spinning Out of Control?" The article which was written by a non-believer looked at every area of life as he sees it from the economy to the weather to the crazy things happening around the world. His conclusion was that life is spiraling out of control at such a rapid pace and that we are heading for a huge crash in our society.

In recent days I have been amazed at how many of my friends and co-workers have expressed the same concerns as they have experienced setbacks financially, severely ill family members, death, and a myriad of other difficulties which seem to be coming in waves.

I have found myself overwhelmed at times with all that is on my plate and wondering will I ever dig out? Just when you see the light at the end of the tunnel, and a very faint light at that, another crisis or difficulty is piled on top. One of my dearest friends has said more and more in recent days, "Bill, I am so weary and tired. Will any of this ever end?"

I was preparing to speak this past Sunday on 2 Corinthians 4, which is a wonderful passage that reminds us not to lose heart in the midst of the difficulties of life. As I was studying this passage, one of the cross references to the passage led me to Daniel 7:25. This verse jumped off the page and opened my eyes to something that has stuck in my crawl the past few days.

Not I know that we can't blame everything on the enemy, but sometimes we forget what he is up to! One of his roles according to Daniel 7:25 is to "wear down the saints!" Hmmmmm ... Now I began to think about this throughout the day on Monday. My staff and Board have experienced this wearing down in both the ministry and their personal lives. The more I thought about it, the more I started to get my feathers ruffled.

As I was praying and meditating throughout the day, the Lord impressed upon my heart that one of the ways the enemy is thwarted is when I praise God. The enemy hates our praise. Much of our praying ends up being petition and supplication vs. taking time to focus in on praising our great God not just for WHAT He does, but for WHO He IS!

Psalm 148:5-9 states: "Let the godly ones exult in glory; Let them sing for joy on their beds, let their high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance on the nations, and punishment on the peoples; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute on them the judgment written; This is an honor for all His godly ones. Praise the Lord!"

I don't know about you, but I have had enough of him wearing me down. I am tired to being tired, tired of the whining of people who really don't want to be what God wants them to be. I am tired of seeing Pastor's who are being worn down, men who are faithfully proclaiming God's Word and loving on their people, yet are being beat up, criticized, scrutinized by people who should know better. I am tired of fighting the wrong enemy. I am tired of seeing good people being hammered by the attacks of the one who appears to promise a better way, but is dragging them down to destruction.

So I am challenging you to join me. Let's stop focusing in on this stuff and begin PRAISING GOD DAY AND NIGHT. Think about how many battles recorded for us in Scripture that were preceded by PRAISE TO OUR GREAT GOD. The bottom line is the enemy of our souls hates it when we praise because God inhabits the praise of His people. I challenge you to begin this week to turn your prayer meeting into a PRAISE meeting. See if you can pray this week and ONLY praise the Lord for who He is. Pray the Scriptures. I have a sneaky suspicion that if we are willing to use this two-edged sword, we are going to see some amazing victories.

Are you willing to take the risk? I am. I hope you will join me on the journey. - Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK

God's WORD for YOU: Job 22-24; Acts 11

Think about it: Communion is strength; solitude is weakness. Alone, the fine old beech yields to the blast and lies prone on the meadow. In the forest, supporting each other, the trees laugh at the hurricane. The sheep of Jesus flock together. The social element is the genius of Christianity. --Charles Haddon Spurgeon