The Lie vs. God’s Design

3.17.21

The greatest lies often are a perversion of the truth. There may be a small bit of the truth within them, but ultimately the truth is only effective when it’s the whole truth. Half truths, exaggerations and tiny fibs are still lies. This is how the enemy sows doubt into the hearts of people. He magnifies some small piece of truth and then twists it to bring confusion about God’s good and perfect character. If the enemy can convince us that God is cruel, than He can successfully keep us from trusting His ways.

2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “But He answered me, “My grace is always more than enough for you, and my power finds its full expression through your weakness.” So I will celebrate my weaknesses, for when I’m weak I sense more deeply the mighty power of Christ living in me.” (TPT).

Today, I want to address six lies that the enemy uses to sow unbelief in our lives in order to keep us from following God’s perfect plan for us.

1. “I’m not enough”

The truth is you weren’t designed to be enough, you were designed to be the vessel that carries the God who is more than enough. Your vessel becomes enough when it functions in its purpose which is to be filled with more and more of Him!

2. “I can’t do it”

You weren’t designed to do it on your own. God didn’t want you to have to carry that kind of burden. God is able to do all things, and when He is in you, you can do anything too. He is the bicep, we are simply the flesh which surrounds it. Without His strength and life, we have no ability. This is why the Bible says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13). He is the source of our power. This means that if we feel overwhelmed, or like we can’t do something, it’s either because we have stepped out of His grace by trying to do something that is destructive or because we are trying to do it on our own instead of submitting to His perfect strength.

3. “I’m unqualified”

You weren’t designed to be qualified in and of yourself, you were designed to hold the one who is qualified to accomplish every task at hand. He is the “I Am!” He has all knowledge and all wisdom, and therefore can teach you and give you strategy to do any task He calls you to! The one who created all things, can certainly teach you anything you need to know to steward His creation!

4. “I’m unlovable”

You are only unlovable if you refuse God’s perfect unconditional love. If you feel unloveable, it’s not because God doesn’t love you. You’re simply not allowing God to love you the way He wants to. I saw a vision once of a person looking like a vessel with a lid sealing it shut. Inside, they were empty and dirty, and the Holy Spirit was lavishing His love upon them like pure water, but that lid was keeping it from cleaning out the dirt and filling up the vessel. In the same way, when we hold on to unbelief, and trust issues because of woundedness, we actually prevent God from touching those spaces that so desperately need cleansed and fulfilled.

5. “I’m insignificant”

The prefix “in” can mean, “in or on something” or it can mean “not”. The only reason you would be insignificant, is if you refuse to function “in” the significance you were created for. Your significance is wrapped up in God’s design and purpose for you. You give purpose and value to who He is by existing to let Him love you. What is selfless love without someone to sacrifice for and love? When you remove yourself from Him, you cease to function in the the very things that gives you value which is the very reason you feel like you have no worth.

For example, if I tried to use a hammer to unscrew a screw from a piece of technology, I would consider it an ineffective tool. It may even cause damage to the technology because I’m using it in a way it was never intended to function. But if I use it to hammer a nail into the wall, then it becomes incredibly significant and efficient, because it’s design is perfect for its purpose. Your purpose is to have relationship with the one and only God who is love! To try to find significance in anything else is sure to lead you to feelings of worthlessness simply because it’s not what your were created for.

6. “I don’t fit in anywhere because I’m too different”

You weren’t to created to fit in. You’re not the substance, you’re the vessel! God’s perfect plan was to fit inside of you, not the other way around. You belong with Him. If every puzzle piece looked identical, we’d never experience the beauty of the full picture. I believe God hides expressions of His nature in each of us, and as we come together, we begin to see the unveiling of who He is in a greater way. If we don’t allow God to express himself in us, the body of Christ misses out on an aspect of who God is because of our unwillingness to manifest that piece of God’s nature. Your piece of the puzzle matters. You have a specific purpose, place, and calling. Your uniqueness is exactly what the Kingdom puzzle needs in order to become its fullest picture!

When we buy in to these lies of the enemy, what we’re actually saying is “God’s design is flawed. God is not enough to make me enough. God is not able to help me do it. God is not qualified enough to qualify me. He isn’t selfless enough to love me when I don’t deserve it. God can’t fill me or give me a place to belong. God is not significant enough to make me significant.” To hate the way you look, your gifting or design is to question God’s good judgement and the way he made you.

Pride is at the root of unbelief. There’s no way to say any of these things without it implicating God and assuming His design was imperfect or without saying you think you could have created something better. Satan is the father of all Lies, because He became one with pride and in doing so desired to discount every good thing that God has made.

Now this doesn’t mean we never mess up, but it does mean that our mess ups are often rooted in pride that says, “I don’t believe that God is who He said He is, nor do I believe what He says about me.”

When you’re faced with a failure, begin to ask yourself “ What lie have I believed that led me to making this decision?” And “What truth about God’s nature have I forsaken in order to believe this lie?”

I know what you’re thinking, “If God is perfect and so is His design, then why did Jesus have to come to die for our imperfections?” Our imperfections were a result of our choices, not His. God is love, and love gives a choice. This choice is called “free will”.

It would be selfish to not let us have free will, therefore, in order for God to really be selfless it was a nonnegotiable part of the design. His intention was for us to always choose to let Him love us and fill us. Unfortunately, when man was in the garden, that free will choice was used to try to be something that they weren’t created to be. Instead of being satisfied with God’s design and relationship, they wanted to be gods themselves. That was the fall from perfection to imperfection. The moment they took what God said was good and perfect, and tried to become something they weren’t created for, it began eroding God’s perfect plan and purpose. The world suddenly shifted, as creation started on a pathway to destruction. All because they bought into a lie.

Here’s the beauty of our God: He never runs out of love and life and can restore and redeem anything we have destroyed. All it takes is for us to believe that He can, and prove that belief by submitting our lives to His way of doing things. Repentance is actually the act of coming back into alignment with God’s original intention and design for our lives. We’re talking about the God who thought through turning waste into fertilizer! He can repurpose even the things we see as gross and disgusting into something that will grow us! He really is good and He really does love you. Will you let Him prove that to you today by surrendering your free will and choices back to Him?