There is
victory for the man who deliberately faces the problems of the work and
takes his stand on the promises of God and challenges Him to do the
miraculous. As my dear friend Lionel B. Fletcher has beautifully said,
"It's useless for any man or woman to go into the work of God hoping to
win victories with a mantle that has been riddled with holes by the
moths of doubt and uncertainty. Such a mantle never yet opened a path
for prophet or preacher, although it may have been wielded successfully
by some other soul aflame with passion and power."
"And
he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters
and said, 'Where is the Lord God of Elijah?' And when he also had
smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither; and Elisha went
over" (II Kings 2:14).
Again, you
can never be a trumpeter of the gospel of the resurrection until your
eyes are opened to see and confess that you're a minister of the Word
in the valley of death. How many pastors, because of spiritual pride
and for the sake of reputation, completely ignore the true spiritual
condition of their own church. If they were honest with God and with
themselves, they'd have to confess with the prophet that they also have
a dry-bone congregation. Then the Lord would give them a burden which
would break their hearts and cause them to fast and pray and cry unto
God.
