Subtle Warfare

He replied again, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.” 1 Kings 19:14 (NLT)

Elijah had just performed an awesome miracle for God. The kind that should reinforce who God is and that he is definitely in charge. After he did, he began to hear the whispers. You know what I mean. The voices that tell you things about yourself and about God that are not true.

Even though they are not true. They are real and after hearing them for a while, the best of us believe them.

The voices that remind you of your past failures and insist that you have not grown past them. The talking about how you are not good enough to _____________________ (fill in the blank.) Each of our whispers are different.

For some, it’s about a past mistake. For others it’s about our physical appearance or our personality. The whispers can talk about our intelligence, our emotions, and our inabilities. These voices get particularly persistent as we grow deeper in our relationship with God.

I know this from experience. We’ve been doing a 40-day fast and the whispers have been non-stop. Relentless is the word that comes to mind. The thing that really distresses me is that normally, I can differentiate between God’s voice and the other guy. This time, it was very subtle and I struggled.

Elijah did too. He was a mighty God warrior and he began to believe what he was hearing. He was convinced that he was the only person left who followed God.

What should we do when the attack is real and the thoughts are negative? Go straight to the source of truth. God. Open your Bible and read. Read the promises. Write them down. Carry them with you all day long. When you hear the voices, repeat them out loud; over and over again. It is only by hearing the truth in our souls can we walk through this victoriously.

Elijah told God what he believed and God told him the truth. He said “Elijah, there are 7,000 others who have been faithful.” God will tell you the truth too. And when you hear it, believe it. Lean in to the One who loves you. He will never leave you or forsake you. That’s a promise!

Liar! Liar!

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)

Who Are You Fighting For?

As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. Acts 9:3-5 (NLT)

Acts 8:1 says "Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen." And later, in 8:3 it says "But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church." This was Saul's job. The Bible doesn't say exactly why he felt this was his calling but we might assume he didn't like the new movement. Some of the beliefs were contrary to the Jewish traditions so many thought it was wrong.

Saul fought and fought for the cause he believed in. Then one day, on the road to Damascus he ran into Jesus, the Son of God. When Paul encountered the light of heaven and a Voice saying "Saul, why are you persecuting me?", what was his response? "Who are you?"

Saul was supposedly fighting for God but he didn't know who God was. Later in his life he regretted his actions and acknowledged the damage it did. How about you? Do you stand for something on behalf of God but don't know God himself? What are you fighting for? Better yet, who are you fighting for?

Which Voice Will You Believe?

God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.  Genesis 3:5 (NLT)

Well, Satan was right. When Eve ate from the tree, her eyes were opened. She suddenly saw evil and paved the way to see death, pain and sorrow. Instead of seeing God's full glory, she now got to look through a different lens. The view of God she sees has a filter and she has a full-on upfront and personal view of evil.

And, sadly, so do we. Satan still whispers this lie to us. Don't trust God. If you do, you'll miss out. Trust yourself. When we believe this lie, like Eve, we experience our troubles, pain and death without God's glory.

What we need is to say "No!" to the lie. We need to embrace all that we face with God's presence near. We should be looking at our life through the lens of trust and confidence - in a God that has already proven he loves us. We should shout to Satan - "No! I will not listen to your lies. I will focus on Jesus instead."

Will we still experience the pain of the decision made so many centuries ago? Yes. The Bible never said life would be a rose garden. But, there is a comfort in facing it with God and a victory when we deny Satan success. What about you?  Which voice are you going to trust today?