HIS TIME IS SHORT
Perhaps you have recently renewed your commitment to pray with all diligence. Or, perhaps you have consecrated your mind and body to God as a living sacrifice. You have cried out, “I’m not going halfway anymore. I’m giving everything I have to Jesus!”
These kinds of commitments stir up the devil’s wrath as nothing else does. He knows that anyone whose life is wholly given to God is a great threat to His kingdom. The devil knows all too well that everyone who seeks God with all his heart will find Him and that praying saints will eventually prevail.
But Satan also knows there is a period between the time the prayer is spoken and when it is answered. Beloved, that is the devil’s short time to work! He knows the importunate widow cried for a season before she was heard. And, likewise, our answer will come in due season. In the meantime, the devil tries to devour us, as we wait on the Lord!
The fact is, God doesn’t jump every time we cry, “Lord, I give it all to you!” God knows that consecration, surrender and hunger for Christ do not always accompany a one-time, emotional cry. Therefore, His Spirit does not respond until He sees in us a sustained determination, some kind of evidence that we will not turn back from our hunger.
Satan recognizes this also. He knows from having observed our lives when we are not serious about our commitment to the Lord. If we are not serious about following through, he does not waste his time on us. He leaves us alone in our weakness and sin.
But the moment he sees true devotion in us, a desire to be set free from sin, a determination to put off all foolishness and put on Christ, then he knows his time is short. He knows there will be only a brief period before we are out of his clutches and walking in glory, operating by faith, living in victory. That’s when he starts throwing everything in hell at us!
Revelation 12 is telling us: Go ahead, Christian, step out of your lethargy. Yield your body to Jesus as a living sacrifice. Seek God with all that is in you but be prepared to face the trial of your life because Satan will come at you with all his might!
Satan knows your weak spots and he will try to carry you away in a flood of trials and temptations. He is frantic because he sees you on the brink of victory, and he knows his time is short.
These kinds of commitments stir up the devil’s wrath as nothing else does. He knows that anyone whose life is wholly given to God is a great threat to His kingdom. The devil knows all too well that everyone who seeks God with all his heart will find Him and that praying saints will eventually prevail.
But Satan also knows there is a period between the time the prayer is spoken and when it is answered. Beloved, that is the devil’s short time to work! He knows the importunate widow cried for a season before she was heard. And, likewise, our answer will come in due season. In the meantime, the devil tries to devour us, as we wait on the Lord!
The fact is, God doesn’t jump every time we cry, “Lord, I give it all to you!” God knows that consecration, surrender and hunger for Christ do not always accompany a one-time, emotional cry. Therefore, His Spirit does not respond until He sees in us a sustained determination, some kind of evidence that we will not turn back from our hunger.
Satan recognizes this also. He knows from having observed our lives when we are not serious about our commitment to the Lord. If we are not serious about following through, he does not waste his time on us. He leaves us alone in our weakness and sin.
But the moment he sees true devotion in us, a desire to be set free from sin, a determination to put off all foolishness and put on Christ, then he knows his time is short. He knows there will be only a brief period before we are out of his clutches and walking in glory, operating by faith, living in victory. That’s when he starts throwing everything in hell at us!
Revelation 12 is telling us: Go ahead, Christian, step out of your lethargy. Yield your body to Jesus as a living sacrifice. Seek God with all that is in you but be prepared to face the trial of your life because Satan will come at you with all his might!
Satan knows your weak spots and he will try to carry you away in a flood of trials and temptations. He is frantic because he sees you on the brink of victory, and he knows his time is short.