Has Satan Worn You Out?

Subtitle: I Don’t Have Time . . ..

By Patricia D. Brown

My youngest sister Patricia sent me the following message some time ago. I feel that what she has to say here is too valuable to keep to myself so I am passing this timeless message on to both family and friends. She makes many valuable remarks that we all would be wise to take notice of and hopefully use to reevaluate where we place our priorities in life. I wish to extend my humble thanks to her for sharing this message with me.

Key verse: Daniel 7:25
“And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”

Today, we live in a time where everybody seems to be in a hurry or for some reason or the other just don’t seem to have enough time to do whatever it is they have planned to do. Oh, don’t misunderstand me. I believe that it is a good idea for one to have hopes, dreams and plans for their lives, for Proverbs 29:18 tells us that, “Where there is no vision, the people perish:” Even God Himself has a plan and will for the lives of His children. In Jeremiah 29:11 it also reads, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Our Heavenly Father only what is best for us. In fact, He knows what is best for us better than we do. That is one of the things that I love about Jesus. He has a long-range view of our destiny. Sadly to say, a lot of church folk are short-sided and at times naïve and narrow-minded. While I do believe that God wants His children to enjoy their lives while here on earth, we, as Christians, fail to realize that where we are in God right now – or for our level of maturity – is not the place God plans for us to be forever. He doesn’t want us to stay baby Christians forever. For example, He doesn’t want us to just know about Him, He wants us to come to know Him in a personal and intimate way through prayer, the study of His Word and through fellowship with other saints. Some of us should even be at the stage in our walk with the Lord where we no longer go to church looking for a blessing. We now go to church to BE a blessing to the body!!

I truly believe that God wants us to be busy in the church and to be found doing when He comes (Luke 19:13, Matthew 24:44). But unfortunately, some of the saints have gone and are going to the extreme. The enemy or the Devil has blinded the saints into thinking that we have to take on every job and be on every board in the church in order to be pleasing to God. In a careful study of Daniel 7:235, the prophet is speaking about end time prophecy when this fourth great beast God shows him in a vision will wear down the saints with persecution. He also brings out a specific time table as to how long this great beast will be persecuting or wearing out the saints – “ until a time and times and the dividing of time.” “A time” is the span of one year; “Times” is a span of two years; and “The dividing of time” is half a year, making a total of 3 ½ years. Thank God it is only a span of 3 ½ years! If it were longer, I truly do not believe that a lot of the saints would be able to take it. Jesus said in Matthew 24:22; “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”

See, Daniel was speaking about the times that are coming after the rapture of the church during the tribulation. But if we would take notice, Satan is wearing out the saints in the church today. That’s why the Word of God tells us to “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” (1 Peter 5:8). The devil has blinded many of us into thinking that we have to be super, extra busy doing things – “I’m on this board, I’m on that auxiliary, I’m on this choir, I’m on that choir, I’m a deacon, I’m an usher, I’m a trustee. As a matter of fact, I’m even the president and they just can’t make it or go on without me.” WAKE UP CHURCH!! God is not calling us to be so busy. In fact, He has specific offices and places for each and every one of us in the body (1 Corinthians 12). The saints have too many irons in the fire. We are so busy doing THINGS! God is not so interested in the deeds of my hands as He is in the condition of my heart. AMEN?!! If my heart isn’t right or if my motive is wrong., God won’t be pleased anyway.

The devil is slowly but surely wearing out the saints doing things and going places until the time for the more important things – prayer, Bible study, relationships, fellowship with other saints, and the like – is all used up. We may sing the song, “Lord, I’m Available to You”, but in all actuality, we are not. If someone needs a friend just to talk to or spend time with, we are too busy. If someone needs someone to pray with, we are too busy. We often tell them that we’ll pray for them later, and get so busy again until the prayer request goes completely off our minds. Or if someone just needs a listening ear, we are too busy. And even in some instances, some of us have the audacity to think or say that “If I am not going to receive any glory or recognition for myself or if I’m not going to get anything out of it, I don’t have time to be bothered anyway!!” The devil is wearing us out with WRONG THINKING.

I was talking to an older friend of mine and she was telling me that times have changed and that things and people are not the same today anyway. She said that when someone was sick or someone passed away in the neighborhood, folks had all kinds of time to spend. Friends and family would come by to make sure that everyone and everything was all right or even take time to pick up the phone and call. But nowadays, we are so busy, that we don’t have time to pick up the phone just to say hi, I had you on my mind, is everything all right. See, back in the “good ole days”, all folk really had was each other. They didn’t have fancy cars, fine homes, good paying jobs, fine clothes, celluar phones, DVD players, computers and whatever. All they had was each other and that seemed to be enough. The devil can even use God’s blessings against us, if we let him. It seems as though before God started blessing us with material things, we acted like we had good sense! That is why God doesn’t bless some vof us the way that He desires to. We don’t know how to act when the blessing comes!! We have eaten and gotten full and have forgotten to say, “Thank you” (Deuteronomy 8:10, 11).

We wonder sometimes why we are so tired. We wonder why we are sicker now than we used to be. Satan has worn us out. Again, I truly believe that the saints have too many irons in the fire. What we need to do is be still and let God place us where He would have us and give that our all. Our prayer should be, “Lord, what would YOU have me to do?” and “Lord, where would YOU have me to go?” I believe if the saints would do this, we won’t be sick and tired, frustrated and out of sorts all the time.

HAS SATAN WORN YOU OUT?

I do not mean to come across as being callous, cruel, or mean-spirited, but the older I get, the more discouraged and dishearten I become as I watch some of our young people - the future of our world, place themselves in a proverbial box called defeatism. Unquestionably, some of us have grown up in unfavorable conditions and in an unkind society that constantly reminds us, and in some cases has thoroughly convinced us, that our father never amounted to much, and our mother has never amounted to much, and so, as the proverbial apple never seems to fall far from the tree, we ourselves can expect to never amount to much either. The tragedy of it all is that society is not alone in painting this picture of hopelessness and despair, but that same picture hangs on the walls in our homes, as well as, in the classrooms of our schools.

I wish to send a very clear, precise, and concise message to our youth of today: the time has come for you to stop wallowing in the mud of hopelessness and slowly drowning yourselves in the sea called despair. Now is the time to break free from that proverbial box that you have found yourselves in, and from the strangling chords of the voices of naysayers who preach negativism and defeatism. Rise above your current station in life. You can if you believe that you can!

Maybe it is true that your father and mother have never done anything to make an honorable name for themselves, or have ever tried to get out of their current situations and better themselves. Maybe it is true that you were born in unfavorable and adverse conditions. Maybe it is true that all of your young life people have done nothing but knock you down and kick you while you were down. However, it does not have to stay that way. Though the night may seem dark and dreary, nighttime only last for a season and then the morning comes. And with the dawning of the morning comes a light of hope that shines bright as the noon day sun.

Now is the time for you to start realizing that you are not your father and you are not your mother. God Almighty has made each of us uniquely YOU. He has meted to you and me a measure of faith, hope, courage, talents, and abilities. It is time for you to put behind you those things that once were, and press forward to obtain those things that can, and (with faith, hope, patience, determination, and endurance) will be. Stop listening to the perpetual lies of those who do not have your best interest at heart, and start believing in yourself. You can do whatever it is you have a mind to do, and you can become whatever it is that you have a desire to become in life, but YOU have to believe that you can do it. If you cannot believe in yourselves, how can you honestly expect anyone else to?

Do not become discouraged if at first you do not succeed at doing something, but try and try again knowing that the road to success is often filled with potholes called failure. Many a success in life has been wrought through heartache and failure, so don't let that stop you. Even along the road of success will be hurdles and discouragement which you will have to get over, but don't let that stop you either. Continue to run your race with your head held high and a song of hope and gladness in your heart. You may not be the first to cross the finishing line, but then the winner of a race is not always necessarily the swiftest runner in the race, but he who runs his race well by remaining focused, staying his course, and enduring to the end.

There will be times along the way when you may become weary. Stop and rest for a little while if you must, but don't give up, give in, or quit. Remain focused on your goals and objectives. The finishing line is just in sight. You can make it. Yes you can! May God give you the hope, courage, faith, and determination to endure to the end. God bless you all!