16 Dec pocket full of lies
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You know what I am really tired of?
Lies and liars.
We sleep with lies. We tuck them in our purses. We stick them in our back pockets, fold them into the pages of our books. We nestle them under couch cushions and bind them around our fingers and wrists as if they were precious adornments.
Whether we acknowledge them or not. Whether they’re from our history, our circumstances, wounds left by people we care about, wounds left by strangers, lying emotions, or the menacing whispers of Satan…we believe lies.
A friend texts:
“Satan sucks.”
I read her words over and over.
I sigh, “It’s true. He does.”
Our last conversation had been less than twelve hours before and we had both been reveling in the faithfulness of God.
And now–ten hours later–we were commiserating over the fickleness of emotions.
“Today I just want to cry…not really sure why.”
[Now before you jump to conclusions about the hormones of women, let me just do all of us a favor and tell you that’s not what this is about.
This is about lies, remember? And Satan loves it when we believe lies.
And he hates when we revel in the faithfulness of God.
So when you go to sleep with a big, fat smile of contentment on your face and wake up just wanting to cry for an unnameable reason…there is a good chance someone wants you to forget the truth you were bathing in the day before.
Oftentimes when we’re in a season of waiting–whatever that looks like–it can be even more tempting to feel those menacing emotions and reach under the bed and pull out fear or doubt to keep you company.
he doesn’t like me. she’s better than me. she thinks she’s so cool. he’s smarter than i am. i’m not as good as he is. he doesn’t love me. she doesn’t love me. she will find someone better. i am not enough. eventually he will find me unlovable. this isn’t going to work out. there is no way my dreams will flourish. no one cares. i am not worthy. he’ll forget about me. everyone leaves anyways. it doesn’t matter. i don’t matter. i am not a good mom. i have failed as a man. i am worthless. i am not lovable. people are not trustworthy. i can’t.
Sound familiar? Maybe these aren’t things you play in your head. Maybe they are and you’ve never paid attention. Or maybe they are so ingrained in your mind that you haven’t noticed.
And then all it takes is for a weary emotion to spur up a little sadness, disappointment, or–the worst–
shame or fear…
and then you’re certainly a goner.
These are emotions though, and emotions are not the wood to which your puppet strings attach.
[And if they are, it is only because you have attached strings to your limbs climbed up them and created yourself a puppet.]
This can be tempting because it can feel safer. “if I feel shame and fear and hide, I take no risks, then I at least have an excuse for being so miserable.”
…said no one. At least out loud (unless to their therapist. Props if you have confessed something like this out loud. ::Brave high five::)
Our emotions can convince us that there is something to be afraid of when there isn’t. They can create irrational insecurity in a perfectly secure circumstance.
And hear me say this:
Emotions can cause you to believe lies that can themselves create the very thing you fear happening to happen.
Friends, we play such a large role in the out look of our lives.
Oh, to believe that the God who shows the wind how to dance, who taught the birds how to sing; the God who showed the monkey how to play, and the cheetah how to run; the God who just spoke and created nations…to believe that He adores you. To believe that He knows you, is not surprised by you, cherishes you more than your mama, and already knows each day ahead. To believe that He. is. good. and has good plans just for you…
what a game changer that would be.
…and despite our emotions. and despite the lies we might be tempted to believe…we could be free.
Life carries on either way. What will happen will happen. And you play such a very little role in the control of this symphony, but the role you do play could be the very difference you–and the rest of the world–need.
Joyce Meyer says, “you can’t make an unhappy person happy…
nor can you make a happy person unhappy.”
I want to be an unshakably happy person.
I don’t know about you, but being an unshakably unhappy person just seems like so much of a waste of a damn good thing: your life.
It is time to clean out our pockets, the couch cushions, the change jar, and the cobwebs of our hearts. The lies must go.
You are worth so much more than the emotions you feel or the lies you believe.
If we are faithless [do not believe and are untrue to Him], He remains true (faithful to His Word and His righteous character), for He cannot deny Himself.
2 Timothy 2:13, AMP
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