Lies Satan Tells us to Make us Afraid (and the bible TRUTHS to defeat them)

​It is Halloween and time for spooky stories and scary costumes. Whether it is your local haunted mansion event or a sinister parent trying to scare his kids silly, the best fearful pranks and scares use tricks or “smoke and mirrors” to cause us to be afraid. Since it is all in fun, we wouldn’t call it lying but the double-dealing less than straight forward actions certainly can spook people and cause real fear.
 
In real life, we can often live in fear and anxiety because of the same type of “smoke and mirrors.” Although these tricks really are lies and come from a sinister foe. Jesus said that the devil is a liar—and the father of lies.[1] The devil cannot “make” us do anything, but he is a master deceiver who is very much experienced at making people believe anything that interferes with God’s plan. Jesus Christ, in contrast, is called “the way, the truth, and the life,” and his plan is for each person to experience life “more abundantly.”
 
Here are five lies that cause us to fear and the Biblical truth that sets people free from those fears if they will believe and trust God’s word.  
 
I can’t 

The worst thing about the “I can’t” lie is that it stops us before we start. It fills us with fear as we face our biggest obstacles and challenges.  “I can’t overcome alcohol.” “I shouldn’t expect to have a good marriage.” “Everything I touch turns out wrong.” “I’m a failure.” “I can’t follow God.” “I can’t start that business.”
 
In contrast, God is the creator of potential—and the completer of fulfillment.   “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” [2] Yes, that verse is specifically about Paul’s learning to handle both plenty and poverty without being distracted from his life’s purpose by either. Still, if God is the great creator, if he knows us, if we will one day be rewarded for what we have done, then we may assume he has a plan for us—something we can do. No, we can’t do everything, but we can do anything he wants us to do. That includes overcoming our sins and failures by his grace and with his help and accomplishing his will for our lives.
 
Whether it is something people consider to be great or small, God looks on the heart, and the very act of seeking to serve him is a success. And failure is an essential part of success. “ For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.” [3] The only way to never fail is to never attempt. So don’t be afraid to attempt that which God is leading you to do through prayerful and Biblical wisdom. Don’t fear and believe the lie of “I can’t.”
 
God won’t 
 
“God won’t help me.” “God won’t forgive me again.” “God won’t hear me.” God won’t love me.” These are real cries of the hurting heart. And God is ready for that: “As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. He knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.” [4] God is not frustrated at our weaknesses and failing. Ask Peter after his denial of Christ. Ask the woman who was so ashamed that she could not even look up, but washed the feet of Christ with her tears. But he is severe to those who stubbornly persist in rejecting his grace. It’s Okay to be weak, but we must guard our hearts against being willfully and stubbornly resistant of God’s grace. The key differences? Sincerity and repentance. “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart.” [5]
 
Nobody cares 
 
This is a lie from Satan, “the accuser,” much too close to the first recorded lie. His approach to Eve was that God did not have her best interest at heart. She could have more than God was offering. Although she had known only good, she could know both good and evil. And that experiential knowledge of evil brought pain and misery.
 
God cares. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” [6]
 
And people care. It is natural to retreat from people when we hurt, to hide, to isolate ourselves. It is natural, but it is counterproductive. The healing comes as we choose the supernatural, God’s plan. And God’s plan involves accepting the provisions God has made, including people. That is one function of the church: “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting [encouraging] one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” [7]That may take letting some people inside your life, opening yourself up, sharing your hurts when you just want to hide. But God intends to use his people. Will everyone respond rightly? Maybe not. In fact, probably not. In any group of people, some will let you down, but in a good church, there will be someone with whom you can connect. One function of pastoral leadership is to help people make those connections. If you are in our area, we would like to help. Please feel free to contact us or come for a visit to a service soon. We are here to listen and we care.
 
 
I don’t matter 
  
You matter to God. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” [8] You are worth God assuming human flesh, dying on a cross to take the punishment for your sins, and rising again.
 
You matter, not because of what you can do, not because of who you are, but because of whose you are, if you are a child of God. A loving parent cares for the child, even in the child’s failures. Your own parents are, or were, fallible. But your heavenly father is not.
 
Yet we know by observation and by scripture that God’s children—and all people—suffer. The “why” behind suffering is a topic of its own, and has been a lifelong passion of Phillip Yancey, who wrote the book Where Is God When It Hurts.”  This is a good source for deeper consideration of this topic.
 
 It’s too late 
 
This is a powerful lie of the devil. The feeling of urgency which should prompt us to action becomes his tool to intensify despair and fear. The feeling of guilt which should prompt us to repentance, this the devil uses to make us hide from God because of fear instead.
 
But what does God say? The mercy of God is “new every morning.” [9]  I love Psalm 103:8—“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy—because it begins and ends its description of God with his mercy.
 
And lost opportunity? True, yesterday cannot come again. But should we throw away today because of that? You might be surprised at how encouraging it is to do something rather than to stagnate in yesterday’s sorrow.
 
 
This has all been written for the perspective of a person who has a relationship with God. It’s never too late to start. The first step in truly dealing with fear based on the lies of Satan is to begin a relationship with God. For more about knowing for sure of the forgiveness of God, having a real relationship with him that can bring peace and relief from fear,  Click here to learn more about how to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. 
 
[1] John 8:44
[2] Philippians 4:13
[3] Proverbs 24:16
[4] Psalm 103:13-14
[5] Psalm 34:18
[6] Romans 8:32
[7] Hebrews 10:25
[8] John 3:16
[9] Lamentations 3:23 

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