But now I’m afraid that as that serpent tricked Eve with his wiles, so your hearts and minds will be tricked and you will stray from the single-minded love and pure devotion to Him. 2 Corinthians 11:3 (VOICE)
In Genesis 3, Satan starts up a conversation with Eve. In it, he suggests things about God and Eve that are not true. He uses overt lies and innuendos. She falls for it. I have to admit, I sometimes wonder how you can walk with God and then believe Satan’s lies. And as I type that, I realize how ridiculous it sounds.
I do that all the time! I bet it happens in your life too.
You might have thoughts like:
You can’t do that. You are not __________ (fill in the blank.)
If you were doing something different you would be __________ (happy, rich, successful, loved.)
Look at all the mistakes you make. What is wrong with you?
You deserve ______________.
God isn’t listening to your prayers. If he was he would ____________.
This bad thing is your fault. You should have _______________.
The reason there are so many blanks is because each of these lies is customized for individual use. Satan’s tactic is to get us to believe them and like Eve, take our minds off of Jesus. He wants us to turn from looking at the One who can change our story to ourselves. He wants us to think we are in this by ourselves.
Satan is a Liar!
I have developed some tactics to help me deal with these lies. One is when they pop into my head I yell “Liar!” (Think of the wife yelling at the husband in Princess Bride.) I also ROAR. Out loud. This reminds me that the Lion of Judah has conquered the lion who seeks to devour. Another tool is to recall Bible verses. For example, when you think “You can’t do that. You are not __________.” I counter with I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13) Or “God isn’t listening to your prayers” For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer. (1 Peter 3:12) Another thing I do is call a friend who knows Jesus and I talk it through and let them speak truth into my life.
Your methods of countering these lies will be different than mine. Not everyone wants to walk around shouting things out loud and roaring. Go figure. Whatever you decide, let it be based on the one truth you know. You are loved. God’s intentions for you are pure. He has not abandoned you but is walking with you through this life. However you do it……remind yourself of that. Every. Single. Day.
We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. 2 Corinthians 10:4 (NLT)