“Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” James 1:16

Know What To Believe

I am sitting in my living room looking out the window. It is dark, raining, thunder storming. I love winter days when it is storming and I have a roast in the oven or a pot of soup simmering on the stove, a good book in my hand and snug on my couch with a soft blanket. This is what I am thinking about as I open the door and step outside to enjoy the cool refreshing wind and the cleansing smell of rain, but I am met with the exhausting humid heat of an August thunderstorm, it is 105 degrees outside and as the afternoon goes on I can smell the smoke from a fire the lightening has ignited and I pray it does not get out of control and does not destroy lives, homes and property.

I start to think how Satan is so deceptive, just like the storm I watched from inside my home that then became something different when I opened the door and stepped into it. Just like in the garden of Eden, the “serpent” Satan told half-truths to Eve and asked questions, ultimately bringing her to the point of doubting God’s goodness and love. I have fallen into Satan’s trap many times over the years. I have believed that I am not good enough. That because of things in my past I could not serve God. What kind of example am I to other Christian women if someone in my own family is upset or angry with me? I start to feel inadequate, shameful, unworthy of God’s agape love for me.

Then eventually I realize, and sometimes not quickly enough, that when these times happen I need to tell Satan what Jesus told him in Matthew 16:23, “Get behind Me, Satan, You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” Rebuking Satan and turning to Jesus is a freeing feeling. The weight of my sins feels lifted anew and I can focus on serving My Lord with peace knowing I have been called to the work I am doing for God’s glory, and I remember it is not about me, but Him. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:7).

It is important to know God’s Word and to trust it even when “noise” all around me seems to be shouting just the opposite. When in doubt always go to God’s Word first. I have found in my years of loving Jesus that every question I have can be answered in the Bible and trusted because it comes from God.

Lord, even when we don’t understand or something seems to be one way yet turns out to be the complete opposite, give us wisdom to know what is real and right and good in your sight. Do not let us be deceived by the things of this world but to focus on You. Amen.