"WILT THOU NOT REVIVE US AGAIN: THAT THY PEOPLE MAY REJOICE IN THEE?"
(Psalm 85:6)
Friday
February 15, 2002
San Diego, California
"America's Finest City!"
THOUGHT: "THE MOST DANGEROUS WEAPON IN SATAN'S ARSENAL"
"There hath no temptation (testing - trial) taken you but such as is common to man:
but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted (tested) above that ye are able;
but will with the temptation (testing - trial) also make a way of escape, that ye may be
able to bear it." (I Corinthians 10:13)
"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him . . . ." (Job 13:15a)
When it comes to hindering and opposing the work of the ministry, the cause of the Gospel,
the labor of the servants of the Lord, and the overall spiritual well-being of the children
of God, Satan's "weapon" of choice is often the "weapon" of discouragement.
As one Christian writer so succinctly put it, "In every life, at some time, a person finds
himself in that dark tunnel where no light is visible. You weep and you cry out in frustration
and you plead, 'Lord, I can't take any more! I have no more patience and no more strength to
hold out; I must hear from You today. If You don't resolve the issue, I don't know what I am
going to do. Can't You see that I'm desperate? Why don't You help me?' Most of us have been
there. How about you? It may have been because of a long, drawn-out sickness. It may have
been a long-term financial problem. It may have been a struggle with grief. It may have been
an . . . . . unsaved loved one or a dysfunction in the family. Or perhaps you suffered through
a problem at work: a demanding, unreasonable boss or a jealous, spiteful fellow worker whom
you have to cope with every day, with no resolution in sight . . . . Before you know it, you
find yourself in David's shoes and can understand his heartfelt words and emotions. This
man is a . . . man of God - the favorite son and sweet singer of Israel. He is a man after
God's own heart, yet he is a man of anguish and suffering, one given to depths of depression
who cries out to God, 'How long?'"
Every one of us has experienced, at some point in his or her lifetime, a period of deep
discouragement and disappointment. Just about all of God's people have known the darkness
and painful abyss that accompanies a discouraged heart. Many have experienced the crucible
of pain and suffering that discouragement can bring. There are times when we can even feel
forsaken when going through a time of discouragement and deep disappointment. Beloved,
we are human. It is noteworthy that God recognized the weakness and frailty of our humanity.
Even of His erring children it is said of Him that, " . . . he remembered that they were but
flesh; a wind that passeth away . . . ." (Psalm 78:39a)
All of us have known discouragement in one form or another. People fail us, and say ill-advised
things that hurt and discourage us. A word that is not fitly spoken can do much damage.
"Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!" Satan uses the uncontrolled tongue of
saved and unsaved unlike as a weapon of discouragement.
Many have been discouraged by lingering sickness, the suffering of a loved one, financial
setbacks, accidents, the loss of employment, the loss of a loved one in death, opposition
from the world, opposition from other Christians, sin in the camp, failed church leadership,
and so many other things that are beyond numbering. The hardness of life in general can be
discouraging. Satan will surely use discouragement to bring about ultimate defeat. Discouragement,
unchecked, will bring about neutralization in the Christian life, and inevitably complete ruin.
The devil wants God's people to quit, and no other "weapon" will do so devastating a job as
discouragement.
The most discouraging thing ever to occur in my Christian life was to be further discouraged by
other brethren because I was discouraged. My discouragement was compounded by the negative
criticism of a group of men from whom I would ordinarily think I could look for encouragement.
Like Job's three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, I felt the salt of their words being rubbed
into my wounds. Like Job I thought of them as, " . . . miserable comforters are ye all" (Job 16:1b).
The cruelty of their words did surely sting! Have you been there too? Most of us have, and
it is not pleasant. Sadly, many of us have been on the other side of the equation, and have hurt
those who needed our understanding and compassion rather than our criticism and disdain. We
all-too-often forget that we have been in the pit of despair at times as well. We forget that
we are all made of the same stuff, and fall prey to Satan's discouraging devices just like everyone else.
I was recently in attendance at a fellowship meeting here in California where a very well-known
pastor was preaching. He pastors a large church with many fruitful ministries. He shared with
those of us present that not too long ago he became very discouraged and depressed. This led him
to feel worthless and unusable. Not just unworthy, but totally worthless. He told of how he
was out driving from a meeting one evening after dark, and had an overwhelming sense of hopelessness.
At one point he thought of how easy it would be to steer his car into the path of an oncoming
semi-tractor trailer and end his life. That is a miserable feeling! Knowing that this was not
the answer he, of course, did not resort to so radical an act. But Satan had planted the thought
in his mind, and he did it all through the "weapon" of discouragement. This is not a novice preacher,
but a man who has been saved for 45 years, and has been in the ministry all of his adult life.
Discouragement will come. It is inevitable. It happens to the godliest of men and women.
Read your Bible, and see the account of men and women who have experienced the sting of discouragement.
Yes, we will get discouraged, but what is most important is how we respond to it. It can be conquered
if we will but apply the healing balm of the Word of God.
I do not remember any other time in my 28 years as born-again Christian when there have been so many
reports of choice servants of God experiencing so much heartache and personal attack as I have heard
in recent years. Satan knows his time is very, very short, and he is stepping up his assault upon God's
people with a vengeance. A missionary's daughter was severely beaten and raped by a group of men in the
country where she and her family were serving. Rather than being bitter, this young woman took pity on
her attackers, praying for their salvation. Two men, a pastor and an evangelist, drowned in very tragic,
separate circumstances. Missionaries have been taken hostage in the Philippines by Muslim extremists.
Three missionary men were taken hostage several years ago by guerillas in South America, and have recent
ly been declared dead. A dear pastor friend died recently at the age of 62 of a massive stroke. A
pastor's wife shot and killed her own adult daughter before turning the gun upon herself, ending her
own life. The pastor was left to sort out the agony of this as he is now without his precious companion
in life and one of his children. Another pastor struggles with pancreatic cancer, and has been given two
years to live. We hear of tragic traffic accidents that end the lives of servants of the Lord and/or
their loved-ones. A dear black evangelist I knew died in a traffic accident in which he was a passenger
. His daughter was driving, and sustained only minor injuries. But she watched her daddy die the result
of a woman falling asleep at the wheel and hitting the passenger side of the car where he was sitting.
College students from two or three Bible colleges have been killed or seriously injured in horrific
automobile accidents. An evangelist was out on the streets of Philadelphia handing out Gospel tracts,
and was repeatedly stabbed by a deranged man. Pastors wives have been stricken with cancer and other
maladies. Satan has attacked the homes and families of some of the godliest servants of the Lord. We
hear of many Christian homes breaking apart, and children being lost to the world, or straying from the
God of their parents. Far too often I hear of preachers and church members alike falling into gross sin
and immorality. Churches have been broken into with thousands of dollars of equipment stolen. Satan wants
desperately to bring about discouragement and disruption to the cause of Christ as we see all of these
things unfold before us. These are all saddening, heart-breaking things, but we must not lay down the
shield of faith, nor the sword of the Spirit in the face of the enemy. We must, by God's grace and at
all costs, put on the whole armor of God. As we get closer and closer to the end of the age, these
things are naturally going to increase. We need to realize this, and not grow "weary in well-doing."
Now is not the time to faint, but the time to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and look to Him, the Author
and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-3).
Paul reminded the church at Thessalonica that when he would come to them,
Satan hindered him (I Thessalonians 2:18). He also reminded the church at Corinth that Satan had installed
many adversaries to the work God had called him to do.
"For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries."
(I Corinthians 16:9) The greatest "adversary" to the work of the Lord is discouragement!
David was a man acquainted with discouragement. Reading the account of the events at Ziklag
(I Samuel 30:1-6), one can see just how discouraged he must have been. Indeed, the Word of God
tells us he was beyond discouragement. He was distressed!
"And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all
the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David ENCOURAGED HIMSELF
IN THE LORD HIS GOD." (I Samuel 30:6)
"David was greatly distressed, not only because he lost his loved ones, but because his men spoke
of stoning him. Because David was the leader, they blamed him for leaving Ziklag and going with the
Philistines. David had made a blunder, a great blunder . . . David was very much a human being like
the rest of us. He made many blunders just like we do. He made a mistake when he left Israel to
live among the Philistines. Now his men are ready to stone him 'because the soul of all the people
was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters.' . . . . David was between a rock and a
hard place. He was between the devil and the deep blue sea. He was in a bad spot. He has lost his
loved ones. His own followers, under this great emotional strain of having lost their love ones,
want to stone him. 'But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.' This is one of the most
wonderful statements ever made.
"Friend, there are times in our lives when the circumstances will not produce any joy or happiness.
There are times when we find ourselves in dark places, like David. We look about, and the situation
looks hopeless. What should we do? Be discouraged? Give up? Say we are through? Friend, if we are
children of God, we will encourage ourselves in the Lord. We will turn to Him at times like this.
Sometimes the Lord puts us in such a spot so we will turn to Him. He wants to make Himself real to us.
It was during times like these that David wrote some of his most helpful Psalms. When troubles come,
you can thumb your way through the Psalms and find where David is encouraging himself in the Lord.
Several times he says, 'The LORD is good . . . Let the redeemed of the LORD say so.' David found this
to be true." (From, The History of Israel - First and Second Samuel, by J. Vernon McGee - bold italic
emphasis mine, Ed)
"It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes." (Psalm 119:71)
"But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." (Psalm 23:10)
Your Servant for Revival,
Evangelist Paul Mershon
Galatians 2:20
(858) 204-5079
IMPORTANT NOTE: With the help of some dear friends in the San Francisco area, the Lord has been
gracious to allow us to begin construction of our new website. Lord willing, it should be
up-and-running within the next week or so. The address for the site is: www.revivalthoughts.org Y
ou may visit the site at your leisure once it is completed. It will include an archive of my articles,
articles written by other evangelists and pastors, and other helpful materials. We will also have an
audio feature in the future. Revival Thoughts will continue to be published in an e-mail format
periodically. New subscribers, or those not currently receiving Revival Thoughts, will be added
to the mailing list by personal request by writing to us at PaulMershon@email.msn.com or
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