The Old Weapons Still Work
Guest post by Elizabeth Smith Hamilton
“Every generation must make a rediscovery of the faith” is one of Daddy’s sayings from when I was a child that has come back to haunt me. I’ve realized that this means a discovery of EVERYTHING. Of holy living. Of a separated life. Of what it means to be more than a conqueror. Of which weapons to use. I feel like I’m in my parents’ basement discovering old treasures that they loved, seeing them again with new eyes. Uncle Buddy Robinson said when he heard the gospel message, it felt like the ink must still be wet. It seemed like Jesus had died the week before somewhere in Texas. This is a rediscovery of the faith.
In his book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Jim Cymbala tells his disappointment in those of us in the church trying to find new methods and dazzling programs and shortcuts to results, when what we need is the old weapon of bombarding heaven. “We are too easily distracted from the call to simply wait on the Lord. We get pulled away from the simplicity of the gospel” (p. 112).
This morning the song “The Old Weapons Still Work” has repeated in my mind. Right now, I’m wielding an ancient key of faith, wondering if it will fit the rusty lock—much like Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress. It doesn’t look like much. Will it get me out of Doubting Castle?
Some things have changed in my life. I have new technology. I read my Bible many days on my phone. I have really enjoyed looking up commentaries and lexicons online in a way I never did when they were just on my shelf. The old-time Salvation Army definitely tried some new methods with their Hallelujah bands and tent meetings. But as they had all-night prayer meetings and the admonition to “Try Tears,” they too found that the old weapons still work!
The Bible says that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. The weapons in Daddy’s basement are prayer, fasting, and surrender. They might be rusty and out of use. There are no short cuts to these weapons; these require more time and hard work than is comfortable to give in my American lifestyle. Am I willing to rediscover them?
The Old Weapons Still Work
This world is wicked
Trouble on every hand
My burdens get so heavy that I cry
”Dear Lord, help me stand”
When the enemy rages
I pray till I know Jesus heard
And in the heat of the battle I’ve learned
The old weapons still work.
Faith still moves mountains
That stands in our way
And prayer is the door
To Heaven someday
We still need Jesus
For the battles we face
My friend, no matter what you have heard
The old weapons still work.
Elizabeth Smith Hamilton