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*I wrote this post over a decade ago and am so grateful I’m not struggling in this particular area as much as I did then. But that doesn’t mean I’m not still susceptible to doubt at times. You too? Maybe this post will help some of us struggling today with any trap set by the enemy of our souls. May it be so, Lord!
After all these years of knowing and walking with God, you’d think I’d be immune. Immune to moments of doubt. Immune to thoughts that slither their way into my mind and whisper it all seems too good to be true.
Slither is an apt word here, isn’t it? After all, the author of those kinds of doubting thoughts is the old serpent himself—our enemy Satan. He likes to cause God’s children to doubt. He’s been doing it from the beginning, ever since he ensnared Eve in the Garden of Eden. Remember how he said, “Did God really say . . .” (Genesis 3:1 NIV)
Essentially that’s what he says to me when he plants insidious seeds of doubt in my mind. Did God really say he knows every bird in the mountains, that not one sparrow falls to the earth apart from his will? How is that possible? Did he really say he’s numbered the hairs of your head? How can he know billions of people on earth that intimately? Is he really preparing a home for you in heaven? Doesn’t everything you believe seem a little too good to be true?* (see scripture references below)
In truth, when I look at everything from my own human understanding, these things are too good to be true. I can’t wrap my finite mind around the vastness and power of God. I’m sure this is one reason we’re told in Proverbs to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and to lean not on our own understanding (3:5). I don’t know about you, but I can get into trouble when I lean on my own understanding, limited as it is.
And so, as the Word exhorts me to do, I “live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV) I “remember the wonders he has done” (Psalm 105:5 NIV) and how he has shown himself real in my life. I trust that “All Scripture is God–breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16 NIV), and then I put on the armor of God and “take [my] stand against the devil’s schemes.” (Ephesians 6:11 NIV). I am not immune to the traps of the enemy so I must do battle.
Are there are other areas—traps other than doubt—where I’m still susceptible as well? Most definitely. I suppose as long as there is breath in this human body of mine, I will not be immune to falling into sin.
It helps to be on guard, though. It helps to know my weaknesses and to be ready for the unsuspecting darts of temptation the evil one lobs at me. I’ve also got to remember that he’s not above trying to trip me up in ways I’d never think I’d fall.
What about you? Are their areas of your life where you’re not immune? Are you on guard against the devil’s schemes?
“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” 1 Corinthians 10:12 NIV
*Psalm 50:11; Matthew 10:29-30; John 14:3
*What are some ways you guard yourself against the enemy?
*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter with a giveaway in every regularly scheduled issue, will come out in early May. Sign-up is FREE! *Temporary problem with Life Notes sign-up. To sign up, just contact me.
*For info about my book Mother of the Bride and also my Wedding Inspiration cards, check out my Books/My Work page.
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