There's a Crack in Your Armor Perry Stone

1. T HEY FLEE FROM PROBLEMS. When Christ was arrested in Gethsemane, we read, “Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled” (Matt. 26:56). Following Christ’s resurrection, they were piled up in a house with the doors shut for “fear of the Jews” (John 20:19). What they fled from was the possibility of their own death. However, what you run from you will meet again in the future. Eleven out of the twelve apostles who were present on the Day of Pentecost died as martyrs, including Peter, who died upside down by crucifixion. Your emotions may tell you to flee from a problem when your spirit will tell you to remain steadfast and unmovable, or as Paul wrote, “Having done all, to stand. Stand therefore” (Eph. 6:13–14). If you ever run from a problem, your reaction will be to run from problems the rest of your life, causing instability for you in other areas. 2. T HEY FOLLOW AFTER PROBLEMS. I have puzzled for years why some dedicated believers leave a good church with a group of cantankerous troublemakers who stirred up conflict and left a stink in the church they departed from. Does it ever come to a solid believer’s mind that they may be following the problem and not the solution? After all, if a rebel and contentious individual is actually a spiritual “tare” (Matt. 13:24–30), then that person will never produce fruit, and by following a tare that has been removed from the field, the good “wheat” is uprooted and any fruit will die and wither away. Wolves will come in sheep’s clothing, but observe their trail, and they still have a wolf’s footprint.