Satan’s wearing-out work
Scripture Reading: Dan. 7:25
Satan always works to attack God’s children. His attacks are not sudden; they often come gradually. According to Daniel 7:25, Satan will wear out the saints of the Most High. One of Satan’s strategies against the saints of the Most High is to wear them out. We must remember that Satan’s work among God’s children is not apparent; he works by wearing them out.
What does it mean to wear someone out? It means to exhaust a person minute by minute, some today and some tomorrow. The wearing out goes on invisibly, yet in a debilitating way; it goes on imperceptibly, yet the end is total depletion and waste. Satan works in God’s children by the principle of wearing them out. He wears us out a little today and a little tomorrow. He causes us to suffer a little today and a little tomorrow. We may think that this is insignificant, yet the result of this wearing out by Satan is total depletion.
This is why the Bible says that the love of many will “grow” cold (Matt. 24:12). The girl who was possessed by a spirit of Python cried out “for many days” (Acts 16:17-18). When Festus wanted money from Paul, he sent for him “frequently” and conversed with him (24:26). Delilah pressed Samson “every day” with her words (Judg. 16:16). Satan wears out God’s children gradually, repeatedly, frequently, and daily. The “evil day” in Ephesians 6:13 refers to Satan’s wearing out. We must ask the Lord to open our eyes to see Satan’s wearing-out work and how we can resist it.
Wearing out man’s body
Satan is particularly good at wearing out the physical bodies of God’s children. Job’s body was stricken (Job 2:7-8), and Paul had a thorn in his flesh (2 Cor. 12:7). This was Satan’s wearing out of their bodies. Some Christians had healthy bodies before they were saved. After they are saved they become sick, and their health deteriorates. If God opens our eyes, we will see that Satan is always plotting and planning to deal with God’s children. Many of God’s servants experience the same thing when they set out to preach the gospel. Before they set out to work and preach the gospel, they have no problems with their health, but once they start to work and preach, their health breaks down within a period of three to five years. This is Satan’s wearing out of the saints of the Most High. He depletes men of a little food today and a little sleep tomorrow. He makes them a little tired today and a little tired tomorrow. The cumulative effect of this tiredness eventually destroys their health completely. This is Satan’s work.
Wearing out man’s heart
Satan wears out not only man’s body but also man’s heart. When you first believed in the Lord, you may have been very happy, joyful, and peaceful. But if you are not watchful and do not know the work of Satan, you will suddenly become restless one day, unhappy another day, and depressed a third day. Little by little your peace will be lost, and your joy will be gone. You will become weary and discouraged. This is Satan’s work in wearing you out.
Wearing out man’s spirit
Satan also tries to wear out man’s spirit. He takes away your prayer little by little; he takes away your trust in God little by little. He causes you to trust in yourself more and more and believe that you are cleverer and cleverer. He causes you to trust in your gift and distracts your heart from the Lord little by little. If Satan struck God’s children with a powerful blow all at once, they could withstand him because they would realize that it was the work of Satan. But his most evil work is not to strike just one blow but to wear you out over a long period of time. He causes God’s children to fall behind little by little and backslide little by little. This is the way Satan wears out God’s children.
Wearing out man’s time
Satan also wears out man’s time. For example, Festus sent for Paul to converse with him frequently. A man as powerful and as gifted as Paul preached to Festus for two years, yet he was still not saved. This is Satan’s wearing out of man. Festus would send for Paul, and there would be no result. The next day he would send for Paul again, and there would be no result. He continually sent for Paul, but there was no result. Satan engaged Paul in work with no result. At the end of two years, there was still no result. This is Satan’s wearing out of man.
If God’s children do not know Satan’s strategy, they will be deceived. We should redeem the time, and each hour should be counted as an hour. We must stop Satan from wearing out our time and engaging us in fruitless work.
Wearing out Samson’s consecration
Samson’s failure was not as serious as the loss of his consecration. He could not afford to lose his testimony of separation. Once he lost his consecration, he lost his power; once he lost his testimony, he lost God’s presence. Samson was a Nazarite. Satan knew that the source of Samson’s power was in his consecration; therefore, he focused his efforts on this very crucial thing — he tried to take away Samson’s consecration. How did Satan do it? He used Delilah, who pressed Samson daily with her words. Eventually, Samson’s soul was vexed unto death, and he told her all that was in his heart, revealing the source of his power. The result was that he fell into Satan’s snare; he lost his consecration, his power, his testimony of sanctification, and God’s presence. This daily, pressing work is the work of the enemy.
If the Lord opens our eyes, we will see that Satan uses many methods to wear man out. He can wear us out physically, circumstantially, or spiritually. He does not attack fiercely; rather, he wears out slowly. Therefore, we have to be aware of his wearing out. We must not allow him to continue his wearing-out work; we must oppose it.
Being disgusted with Satan’s wearing out
When Paul was preaching in Macedonia, he met a girl possessed by a spirit, who followed him, crying out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who announce to you a way of salvation” (Acts 16:17). She cried out this way for many days, until Paul felt disgusted at heart. He turned to the spirit and said, “I charge you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her” (v. 18). The spirit came out that very hour. Spiritually, we need such a feeling of disgust. We need to be disgusted not with men but with the demons. Paul was truly disgusted with the spirit; he was not disgusted with the girl. When Paul charged the spirit to come out of the girl, he was treating the girl as a third party. When the devil tries to wear us out, we should have the same feeling of disgust as Paul.
If you know that Satan is wearing you out, you have to pray for God to give you a feeling of disgust, that is, a feeling of disgust and anger with Satan! Many people can get angry at men, but they cannot get angry at the devil. If others offend them, they break out in a fit of anger, but when the devil wears them out, they do not feel a thing. Paul was worn out by Satan to the extent that he became angry. Once he opened his mouth to rebuke the spirit, the spirit went away. Hence, we must not keep our mouth shut all the time; we have to declare something. It would be wonderful if God’s children would become angry with Satan and rebuke him. If anyone becomes angry with Satan, we will say, “Hallelujah, this is wonderful!” Some people are very weak; they allow Satan to wear them out. This is too poor. God’s children should become angry with Satan. They need to be disgusted with him. Once they become angry and disgusted, everything will be set right.
We often keep silent and endure while Satan is wearing us out; we try to suffer silently. But at a certain point, we become disgusted and angry, saying, “I do not agree with this! I do not want this!” This speaking and anger will deliver us and stop the wearing-out work. God’s children should stand up to reject Satan in disgust; they should rebuke Satan. Some people have never experienced deliverance or release because they still have the “strength” to endure. A man who endures Satan’s wearing out and allows Satan to waste his energy, joy, and spirit has fallen into Satan’s trap. We are not saying that we should be angry with those men whom Satan has used; we must be patient with them and still love them. But we should oppose and reject the strategies and methods of Satan. If we oppose Satan’s work, we will be freed and liberated.
The power to reject Satan comes from realizing his pressure. Some believers have been deceived and attacked by Satan. They withstand it and oppose it, yet they do not feel that they have any strength. This is because they have not seen the pressure of Satan. We often oppose and reject him, yet we do not have any energy to raise our voice. This is because we have not seen Satan’s pressure. Whether or not we can reject Satan depends on whether we are disgusted with him. If we are not sufficiently disgusted with him, our speaking to him will be like speaking to the air; it will not produce any effect. But when we truly become disgusted and angry with him, the anger will become our strength, and the minute we open our mouth, he will go away.
Such a feeling of disgust comes from revelation. Once we see that Satan is wearing us out, we must oppose him. Once we see this, Satan cannot do anything more; he will realize his hopelessness. May the Lord be merciful to us so that we see Satan’s wearing-out work. As long as we tolerate and endure him, his work will continue. But the minute we feel disgusted and become angry with him, Satan will go away. We must realize that no other kind of withstanding will work. Satan will withdraw only when we withstand him with our words. If we do not see this and allow him to go on, he will not stop. When we see that Satan is doing the work and plotting everything, we must say, “I do not want this. I oppose this.” God will then bless our withstanding, and it will become effectual.
Finally, let us read Ephesians 6:13. Paul said, “Having done all, to stand.” We must stand and not allow Satan to continue wearing us out. May the Lord open our eyes to see Satan’s wearing-out work on God’s children. We have to reject this, and we have to speak up. We have to say, “I reject this. I oppose this. I do not accept this wearing out.” We must not accept any kind of wearing out from Satan; we should oppose it and reject it. If we do this, we will witness the Lord’s deliverance and release, and we will be freed from Satan’s wearing-out work.
Such words require the covering of the blood. May God cover us with the blood.