The Phenomena of a Passive Mind 531
certainly ought to be satisfied and happy; but the fact is that he is full
of worries and unhappy thoughts. Ask him to give the reason for this
and to him nothing whatever can be a sufficient one. Suggest to him
to get rid of such thoughts and he finds himself utterly unable. He
himself does not understand his plight. He appears to have sunk into
a quagmire from which he cannot extricate himself. Hs is so used to
worrying that he has no strength to rise above it. This of course is the
heavy hand of the enemy. If it were a matter of natural worry there
would have to be a cause of sufficient reason. All worries without
natural cause or sufficient justification are precipitated by evil spirits.
The believer has slumped so low because at the beginning he
accepted the notions of the wicked ones and now is powerless to free
himself. His mind has settled thoroughly into passivity so that it can
no longer be active. Such a person is aware of this bondage because
he is loaded with burdens. He cannot glimpse the blue sky nor can he
comprehend the true picture of anything. He cannot exercise his
reasoning power. He is as a prisoner cast into the dungeon, eking out
his days in darkness. Evil spirits enjoy seeing men suffer. Everyone
who falls into their hands will be so treated by them.
VacillationWhile the mind of a believer is dominated by enemy powers his
thoughts are totally unreliable, since most of them come from the
wicked spirits. Few of them are his own. These spirits may generate
in him one kind of thought but very shortly afterwards beget an
opposite kind. In following such shifting notions the Christian
naturally turns into a vacillating person. Those who are with him or
work with him consider him unstable in character because he is
everlastingly changing positions. Fundamentally though, it is the
wicked spirits who change his thoughts and alter his opinions. How
frequently we find Christians who say at one moment “I can” but at
the next “I can’t.” They declare in the morning “I want” and shift in
the afternoon to “I don’t want.” The reason is that at first the evil