“It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 (The Message)
Our family used to like to watch a TV show titled “Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction.” My husband and I would keep track of the four to six mini stories told throughout the hour-long show and then at the end when the answers were revealed of which stories were fact and which were fiction, we would compare our guesses, seeing who was better at telling the difference between the truth and a lie.
One of the reasons the show was so appealing was because it was very difficult to tell the difference between something that happened in history and something a clever writer made up to throw the audience off.
Our enemy, the devil, is very similar to that TV show. He takes the Bible, the inerrant word of God (meaning it’s without error, completely true) and subtly twists a little bit here or a little bit there until he gets what he wants – human beings who are believing that his lies are fact and God’s word is fiction.
I struggled with believing many lies before I asked God to teach me how to trust Him. Part of learning how to trust Him was asking for help distinguishing between His truth and the enemy’s lies.
I wrote Spoken from the Heart: Choosing a Faith-filled Adventure and share in there how God counteracted the enemy’s distortions with His absolute truth.
I’ve found, for me, the best way to combat the enemy’s lies is to initiate a conversation with God about a specific issue I want to overcome.
Why, God, do I struggle with emotional eating? I know I need to take care of my body and when I get stressed, I run to food for comfort. Could you show me the lie I’m believing so I can overcome this issue and live in obedience to You instead?
God takes our honest conversations with Him and answers them in ways we can’t possibly imagine. Sometimes He answers immediately, other times it’s a slower process, but He always answers.
Is there an area of your life where you’re struggling to find the truth? Maybe it would be helpful for you to initiate a conversation of your own with our Heavenly Father – asking if there is a lie you’re believing. Then once He identifies it for you, ask Him to replace it with His truth and remind yourself of that truth until you believe it as strongly as you did the original lie in the first place.
If this is something you chose to do and God has been speaking, I’d love if you would share that experience with me. I’d like to rejoice with you.
© Cheri Swalwell 2018; re-posted to bring encouragement