We first discussed this lie when looking at fear, the first Tactic of the Enemy. He wants you to believe this one more than anything, because it means you don’t trust God. And he knows that any Christian who doesn’t trust God will not turn to Him in faith to be set free from their sin.
As we saw then, this is a hard one to escape because we often look at our circumstances and see nothing good on the horizon.
A single man might think: No wife, no fiancé, no girlfriend. You kidding? Not even a conversation with a woman. Sometimes that’s how it feels. A married man might be having difficulty in his marriage, and blame God for whatever it might be. Why didn’t you give me a better wife? Why don’t you change this flaw in her?
Some women struggle with porn too. They might feel like porn is the best they’ll ever get, because God made sex for the man’s enjoyment only. Or they might believe God will never give them the romance they long for, and will look for it in a variety of places.
The more focused you get on yourself and your needs, even legitimate ones, the harder it becomes to trust God. Your heart then bases all its decisions on what you see, rather than on what you believe.
“Follow your heart” and you will end up a faithless addict. I’ve referred to it several times, but let’s look at what actually happened to the Israelites after they had been in the wilderness for several years. They were about to enter the Promised Land, promised to them by God centuries ago through Abraham. They spied out the land, and almost everyone who went in returned in terror at the intimidating warriors who would stand in their way. Here are their words:
Numbers 14:2,3
All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt. Or would that we had died in this wilderness. Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” (NAS)
Incredible words. Let’s consider what has come before this.
This is the same generation that witnessed Moses visit them in Egypt. They saw the ten plagues. Our present day secular culture has made multiple movies about this story. Real or not, even they are amazed by its scope and power. These people saw those ten plagues. Saw the water turn to blood, except for their water. Saw and heard the first-born sons be killed, except for those who had lamb’s blood on the door. Watched the swarms of all kinds of insects ravage the land, except for their land. This is the generation that saw pillars of fire and cloud come out of nowhere and prevent the Egyptian army from reaching them. Who saw the Red Sea split in two, and they walked through it. They saw Moses go up a mountain, and come down with two stone tablets.
These are just the big ones. Read the rest of the story. This generation saw incredible things, miracles the likes of which no one else has seen before or since. And yet here they are, asking why God brought them all this way just to let them die by the sword.
They believe–see, the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart, your faith is evident in your words, which is why your words need to be the Bible coming from your mouth–they believe that God is going to let them die in the land. After all the indescribable things He has done to save them and get them this far, they still don’t trust Him to take care of them. They still live by their sight, not by faith.
In the same way, we overlook the numerous and wonderful ways God has already blessed us, and will become dissatisfied because of this single area that remains unfulfilled. Remember ungratefulness? This lie leads directly to that Sin of the Mind. And because we focus on the unmet need or desire, we run off to porn to satisfy it.
Defeating the Lie
Here is God’s response to the Israelites, and it is the verse that counters this lie:
Numbers 14:11
The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn me? And how long will they not believe in me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst?” (NAS)
Some people who don’t read the Bible think God in the Old Testament is just full of anger and judgment. Considering how much He had already done for these people, and then reading their words up above, what would you do? Far be it from us to say, “If I were God, then…” But this one isn’t too hard. If you were God, and had done all that stuff for these people, and they still put no trust in you to take care of them, what would you do?
Interestingly, God doesn’t destroy them. He just doesn’t bless them. He sends them back to the wilderness, and the entire generation that stood a few meters from its destiny spends the next forty years marching in circles through the desert, until one by one they die off, unblessed, unfulfilled. God gave their inheritance to the next generation. But this one would die natural deaths, without entering the land promised to them for centuries.
The same is true with us. God will bless us. But He wants us to trust Him. If we don’t believe God will take care of us and meet our needs, then…why should He? I have observed, however, that sometimes He still does, even to people with little or no faith, and I think He does it because He does love us, and wants us to be well, to be in His family. He also does it because perhaps someday, we will realize how great is His goodness, and give our whole hearts to Him.
The reverse sometimes happens too, unfortunately. If you say in your heart that you don’t think God will meet this or that need, then you are making a faith declaration. And very possibly, you will find this need not being met. You will go unsatisfied your whole life, in the area you crave satisfaction the most. But your words become your reality, a self-fulfilling prophecy. Remember, the tongue has the power to bless and to curse, to give life and death. Let yours give life and blessings, both for others and for yourself, and therein defeat this lie.
God responds to faith, and if you want Him to bless you in the area of your sexuality, of your relational need for companionship and acceptance and partnership and love, then you need to forsake this lie of the enemy, and trust in God, against all that your eyes see. God is good, and no good thing does He withhold from the one who walks uprightly, as we already saw in Psalm 84. Trust in God to love you as He says He does. It’s not always easy, but it’s the only way.
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