The Catbird Seat

This past Sunday night I went to a Bible study at our church that is geared explicitly for women. It’s called “Simply Soul.” The women that conceived the idea for it desired to provide a place for women to study God’s Word (and little or nothing else) in a format that requires practically no commitment. It’s the third Sunday night of each month from 6:00 to 7:30pm. There are no snacks or goodies, no coffee bar, no pretenses. Just women who need from the church what only the church can give: the Truth.

This week was Part 2 of a series called “Strongholds that Strangle” led by my friend and unofficial mentor, Ruthie Delk. Providentially, it was a small crowd, and we quickly got right down to business, so to speak.

Her premise for the study is this: the “enemy” feeds us lies that cause us to question our understanding of God and pave the way for our unbelief of Him, His power, and His promises. This unbelief then encourages our sinful nature to reign in our life, which consequently chokes the life out of us spiritually, emotionally, mentally and ultimately physically. An example would be a person who struggles with worry to the point that they become unproductive, anxious and fretful, “ruminating” to the point of physical or mental illness (e.g. depression), hopeless and frustrated. Or maybe it’s not that extreme, but they just find themselves worried about something all the time. You may have experienced this to a varying degree yourself. I know I have.

Her conclusion is that when we track back to the root issue, we often (if not always) can discover a lie that we’ve believed about God, or ourselves, or both.

In our example, one of the lies we (read: I) believe that fosters and furthers worry is that God won’t provide. That may show up as the fleeting thought, “God doesn’t care about my situation. He won’t provide this or that. It’s not important to Him.” or worse yet, “God can’t provide in this situation. It’s IMPOSSIBLE!”

We’ve bought the lies that (a) He doesn’t love us enough to provide for us, and (b) He is simply just unable to provide for us. When it’s broken down that way, the deceit is not only apparent, it’s ludicrous! To think that God doesn’t love me enough to provide for me! GOD IS LOVE (1 John 4:16), for Pete’s sake! But when I worry incessantly over whether I will find the right car or not, I’ve believed that very lie.

As we were sitting in the classroom, I remembered a song by Julie Miller called, “Any Lie” that speaks to the same issue. I could hear it in my head as I thought through the many lies I’ve believed about God over the years, and as recently as today. The thing that kept coming back to me is this: Satan doesn’t have to tell every lie. He only has to tell the one that gets me. Any lie will do.

Here’s an excerpt from the lyrics of the song:

The words he whispers can seem so sweet
Pretty to look at, poison to eat
He’ll feed you until you choke on deceit
So you better beware, ’cause baby, he don’t care

He’ll tell you any lie
He will tell you any lie you’ll believe

He loves religion as much as crime
Right or left either way will be fine
As long as you miss walking on that narrow line
All that matters is, in the end you’re his

(my emphasis)

As I type this I have chills from the dire implication. But, Praise the Lord! The truth can transform you as much as a lie can destroy you.

He will tell you any lie. He will tell me any lie. BUT, we have a choice. I don’t have to believe the lies, and neither do you. After all, Jesus Christ himself said, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

Filed under: General, Catbird, Like a fire on February 22nd, 2006