The Lies We Fight in Suffering
Below are some of the lies that we have to fight against while going through seasons of suffering that attempt to shift our perspective into something other than the truth. These lies tempt us into making poor choices, and having a cold heart toward the Lord. However, when we face the lies with the truth of God’s word; they cannot stand.
The Lie that It is a vain thing to live for God.
This is one of the biggest lies of confusion that we have to fight during a test, trial, or place of suffering in the kingdom of God. The enemy says that we will suffer and go through crazy pain anyway being obedient to God, so we may as well do what we want and get some relief from the suffering, but the devil is a liar.
God says: It is better to suffer for doing what is right than doing what is wrong (1 Peter 3:17). God says in suffering for righteousness that he expects us to commit ourselves to our faithful Creator. I believe the scripture reminds us in suffering in this passage that God, our creator is faithful, because the other big thing that Satan comes against us with in suffering is that God is not good, yet God reminds us that he is faithful.
So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. 1 Peter 4:19 (NIV)
God reminds us of his character in suffering, so that we can remain confident that he will bring us to an expected end as he has promised. We only need to continue to do good and to place our trust in him. There are many who fall away from God because of suffering. Many forget that long suffering is a fruit of the Spirit of God. As mentioned earlier without the suffering we would lack the benefits that suffering brings. We need to remain steadfast in knowing that God is making us whole in suffering, and taking us to the next level in him.
The lie that God is not Good due to allowing us to suffer.
We need to be intentional about viewing God correctly in suffering. We need to be intentional about believing that God is good. I had been fasting and praying during my last place of suffering and transition. I was anxious to get home because I had been out all day at work and had a hair appointment. I did not get home until around 11 p.m. When I walked in the door immediately God put a song in my spirit. The lyrics are, “I will remain confident in this I will see the goodness of the Lord.” The song begins by addressing a spirit of fear which we often feel in transition because we may not know what is next. It says, “The Lord is my light and salvation. Whom shall I fear? Of whom shall I be afraid? I will run to you. I will run to you. I will remain confident in this. I will see the goodness of the Lord.”
I had to find the song on YouTube. I pulled it up, and the presence of the Lord came in my room like Whoa! I worshiped the Lord for hours just singing to him from my spirit laying on the floor.
God’s goodness was displayed in his willingness to meet with me, and to allow me to draw strength from being in his presence. During suffering, we have to be more intentional about counting our blessings, and being thankful for those things that God allows us to experience that represent his goodness. In doing so, it helps us to maintain our respect for the Lord and an appropriate image of who he is in our life.
I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living. Psalms 27:13 (NIV)
I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psalms 27:13 (KJV)The Lie that we must be doing something wrong.
The suffering has to be going on because we are either doing something wrong or have done something wrong. This makes us defensive, and gets us caught up in trying to prove ourselves to others instead of placing our trust in the Lord. This is a distraction that causes us to take our focus off of what God is calling us to and places it on something else. Jesus was also tempted with this when Satan questioned if he was the Son of God to prove it by turning stones into bread.
The second part of that lie says, Christians aren’t ever supposed to be depressed unless they are doing something wrong. Both of these statements are false. Sometimes Christians will get depressed, confused, and go through suffering without having done anything wrong. To tell someone they are never supposed to be depressed breeds shame that produces isolation. Isolation is produced because if this isn’t ever supposed to happen; people may not attempt to get the help needed to get through it for the shame and embarrassment that is going on. Instead of Christians telling other Christians that they should never be depressed; we should tell believers that they do not have to stay depressed. It should be shared that we all go through depressing circumstances, but we do not have to stay there. Deliverance belongs to the believer, and this is something that we can be sure of when depressing circumstance occur in our lives (Matthew 15:26).
The Lie that says we are not good enough.
This is the additional attack on our identity in which I believe happens before we go to the next level of promotion so we can relinquish what God has for us. Jesus went through this before his next level when led of Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Afterward he was ministered to and confirmed as God’s son on the mountain of transfiguration. Where a greater revealing of who he was was shown to some of his closest disciples. I believe that prior to the next level of revelation, God seals how we have seen ourselves on the last level to reveal greater parts of our identity on the next level to us and to others.
While going through the transition and suffering, it is vitally important to depend on God and what he shows us in his word. This will cause us to have a clear understanding of what is going on instead of believing the negative picture painted by our circumstance. (Learning to depend on God.)
Leave a Reply