There are truths I believe that enable me to more forward in trust and confidence and there are lies I believe that hold me down and hold me back. Here are three lies that have given me no end of trouble over the years.
1. There are some things God just cannot do
I know in my head that everything is possible with God; that he is still the miracle worker; but in my spirit and in the midst of my fears and doubts, I get paralyzed and believe the lie that something, or someone, is impossible for God to deal with–that the situation or the person is beyond God’s ability. I know that this is a lie and not true, but in practice I buy into it by the way I act and the way I pray.
“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘ with man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God. ‘ ” Mark 10:27 ESV
2. God can’t use me to do this
I have been a Christian for 59 years and you would think by now that I would be over my insecurities, inadequacies and failures to never say that God can’t use me anymore; that I would be able to operate on the belief that my failures and sin have not nullified his grace and power in my life. Honestly though, I still find myself believing the lie that he might use others to do this, but won’t use me because I am too old, too sinful, not gifted enough, not relational enough or just not up to it.
I have a quote from AW Tozer that resides in the front of my prayer book to remind me of God’s power to overcome anything:
“Anything God has ever done at any time he can do NOW
Anything God has ever done anywhere he can do HERE
Anything God has ever done for anyone he can do for YOU”
The God we serve is not limited by time, location or person. He can work at any time, in any place, through anyone.
3. I don’t need anyone else to do this
Probably the biggest lie I have believed is that I don’t need anyone else in my life or on a team. I have believed the lie of the independent operator from Western movies with the likes of Clint Eastwood and John Wayne: If it’s going to be, it’s up to me. I can vacillate between thinking I can’t do it and thinking I can do it alone. If the devil can’t get me on “I can’t,” he will try to get me to do it all by myself and ignore the fact that as a Christian I am part of a family, a body, a team of believers–that “we” is more important than “me.”
So, my fellow leaders, what lie have you believed, or are you believing, that is holding you back and holding you down from what Jesus wants to do in and through your life?
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