I had to be at work a little before 11:00 P.M. that Sunday night.  The factory work week began at 11:00 and as Quality Assurance Inspector I had to check the equipment before startup.  Although I interacted with the supervisors and workers on the factory floor, I worked alone, covering all that was happening.  This gave me lots of time to think.

There was a lot to think to think about that night.  During our worship services and fellowship through the day I had picked up hints of things that were not well in our congregation.  As I walked the factory floor that night, I was remembering all the instances I had observed of negligence by our ministers.  The problems were so glaringly evident, yet the ministers were doing nothing to help, rather pretending to be ignorant of the dangers.  The picture became darker and darker as the night wore on.  I became increasingly disheartened.

This was thirty years ago, yet I still remember the time (5:00 A.M.) and where I was standing when a little voice spoke in my mind: “These thoughts are not taking you anywhere you want to go.”  Instantly, I recognized that all the thoughts that had been going through my mind did not originate from within my mind, but from an outside source.  They were the work of the enemy, the accuser of the brethren.

The dark cloud vanished, the evidence that had appeared so solid and unassailable crumbled to dust.  All the grounds for distrusting the working of the ministry disappeared.  The forces of darkness work in darkness.  When a little light comes to expose them, they scuttle away and flee.

They will come back, trying to disguise themselves in a different way each time.  We need not expect that we will ever be free from attack by the principalities and powers, the rulers of darkness, the wiles of the devil.  Thankfully, the Holy Spirit also comes to whisper, “Do you really want to go where those voices are leading you?”

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:11-12).