Casting Crowns (a Christian music group) have a God-given ability to bring piercing prophetic picture messages through song. Their songs tackle specific issues we face in life and remind us of the weapons we have through prayer, praise and the Word of God to defeat every enemy that comes against us.

One of these haunting songs is ‘Waiting For The Night To Fall’, a song which warns us we have an enemy (described as ‘an old man living in the back of your woods’) and that he seeks to rob us blind of the many blessings God has for us. The imagery of darkness and night in contrast to the daytime and light is one used repeatedly in Scripture to show us the contrast between the devil and God (see John 1:4-5, John 8:12, John 12:35).

In the song, we have the piercing lyric:

“He knows you have the answers, but Truth lies dusty on your shelf/ And the sword that you could slay him with has become an ornament and nothing else.”

God’s word is given to us to be a sword that cuts through lies and slays the enemy and the ‘old man’ (our old nature). God has given us all the weapons we need to defeat this old man, to defeat our old nature, to live in the victory Christ has purchased for us, but unless we pick up that sword and use it, we remain vulnerable, with tied hands and numbed minds, living in the world’s mould as functioning atheists (because if we are not living by faith, we are effectively living as those with no hope.) Without the sword of the Spirit, we are people who do not experience life in all its fulness; we are ensnared in the enemy’s traps, trapped in ditches that are too deep for us to climb out of, just like the rest of the world.

We need to pick up our swords, wipe the dust off them, sharpen the blades by our faith to believe and then use them. When we do this, we will see mountains moved, walls crumble and darkness dissipated. Use your sword today and see what happens!