532 The Spiritual Man
spirits plant in the mind the thought of “I can” and induce him to
believe he genuinely can; nonetheless, they next inject into him
another and contrary thought of “I can’t” and cause him to think he
really is unable. So it is not he himself who has altered what he
initially declared.
In these numerous shifting attitudes we can detect the adversary at
work in the mind of man. Saints may abhor living such a vacillating
life, but they have no way to stabilize themselves because they are
not their own. If they refuse to follow the alien suggestions the
wicked powers shall falsify the voice of conscience and accuse them
of not following God. Now to avoid being accused, these saints have
no choice but to shift their positions before men. These alternating
and unsteady traits all proceed from the same source. In listening in
their heads to the suggestions of the evil spirits Christians commence
abruptly to undertake many tasks, but as the enemy powers change
their proposals the Christians correspondingly shift their labor.
Beyond these occurrences, evil spirits additionally often provoke
people to think at inappropriate occasions. They will awaken them at
midnight, for example, instructing them to perform such-and-such a
matter. If one refuses to obey they will begin to accuse him. Or else
in the deep of night they may suggest to him a shift in course, so that
an exceedingly important decision is made during a time when the
mind is most susceptible to confusion. By tracing the origin of many
of these sudden turns of events we will discover evil spirits at work
in the mind of men.
TalkativenessThose of God’s people whose minds are assaulted by Satan
frequently shy away from conversing with people because they have
not the strength to listen; for while they are trying to listen to others,
thoughts over which they have no control drift through their brains
like wind-blown clouds. They are usually most talkative, however.