Chasing Our Tails By Keith Hall

Did you ever watch a dog chase his own tail ? You know they will go round and round trying to get ahold of their tail in their mouth to, hopefully, chew on an itchy spot. Most of the time, of course, they fail in this pursuit. Even on the rare occasions that they succeed they stand there with the end of their tail in their mouth still unable to reach the exact spot they sought anyway. Afterwards you can be sure that they will still try once again to reach the right spot. It is an exercise in utter futility. The devil has many Christians in the same position of futility though we usually fail to see it. He has many of us running round in circles like the poor dog in this story and we too will fail to reach our goals in this endless pursuit of our tail unless we recognize the devices of the enemy. Most of us have become so "busy" that we can't find the time and energy to devote to God that He deserves. Our lives are a cluttered mess of work, meetings, social events, leisure activities, etc. that seem to fill every waking hour with 59 1/2 minutes of "busy" and 30 seconds of our own. It is a perpetual state of chaos and confusion that leaves us too tired and too frazzled to do anything for God or to be of much use to Him. Now, we have to realize who the author of confusion is and who benefits most from the chaos our lives have become. The devil has most of us right where he wants us in this regard. It is obvious that he would prefer most of all that we never give our lives to God but, if we do, his next preference would be to render us ineffective in God's service. Just how effective can we be when we have little to no time and feel completely exhausted in our few free moments ? If he can keep us chasing our tails long enough, when some "free time" does come our way we end up slumped in front of the TV or socializing because, after all, we've surely earned it. After a while you will begin to see folks missing church just because they are "too tired" or "needed a break". Folks it isn't God or God's house from which we need a break. It is from this satan - inspired lifestyle which has seduced us that we need a break. Our enemy is, if nothing else, a wily adversary. He knows our weaknesses and uses them against us at every opportunity. He also knows if he can just keep us "busy" enough we will eventually let down on our church attendance, our prayer time, our bible reading, our witnessing, etc. and will likely be unaware of what has even happened to us and our relationship with God. Understand that usually when you slack off it is not the result of a conscious decision on your part. It is merely a response to our fatiguing daily ritual that allows us to falter while feeling all along that everything is alright and that we are in control. We are in control alright. The question is, in whose control are we ?