The Spiritual Man

550 The Spiritual Man

an active mind for long. Or, they will hint to you that you sank into
this condition because you worked too hard. They may even grow so
bold as to tell you your present state is what you really are, that you
are inferior to others because you received a lesser gift. The aim of
the evil spirits is to mislead the child of God into believing the
explanation for his weaknesses is natural, necessary and
unsurprising. If God’s child neither is deceived nor is passive but is
absolutely free, those words perhaps might be worthy of
investigation; but should he be deceived and passive, those excuses
are utterly unbelievable. He who has been redeemed to enjoy a better
life than this poor condition should not allow the powers of darkness
to hold him down in a lower state. He decisively should reject their
lies.

One point should be noticed: a mind which is weakened through
sickness is altogether different from one which is undermined by
ceding ground to evil spirits. In the first case, man’s nervous system
is damaged; in the second, the work of the enemy does not upset the
constitution of the nerves but merely inhibits their proper
functioning. If a man’s mind is not organically damaged but is only
temporarily out of normal operation, he can be restored to his former
state once the evil spirits are cast out. Many insane people have had
their nervous system damaged through natural illness first before
they are disturbed by the evil spirits; hence it is more difficult for
them to be restored.

Passivity Overturned

After determining what one’s normalcy is, the Christian’s next
important step is to battle for recovery. We should not forget,
however, that the adversary will try his best to retain the ground he
has won exactly as earthly rulers jealously guard their territories. We
cannot expect the powers of darkness to surrender their citadels
without a struggle. Quite the reverse, they will fight to the very end.