Blindsided, her accusation rendered me speechless. As she gave voice to her feelings, I struggled to understand how she could have misunderstood my heart. In vain I offered her the truth ~ I never thought nor felt the things she perceived in me.  

As we parted ways, I thought of the old saying: You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. Not only did she refuse to believe me, I could do nothing about it. So frustrating. Sigh.

When I’m hurt, my natural defense is anger. Yet my anger doesn’t usually lead me to act righteously (James 1:19-20). So to process the situation, I wrestled in prayer ~ asking God to help me have compassion for my friend.

It took some time (a few days), but I began to put myself in my friend’s place. When I did, I realized how miserable it must be to hold on to the lies she believed. Suddenly, I saw how I can be so much like my friend.

I began to remember the times I accused God

• of being silent when He didn’t answer prayers on my timeline.
• of being unloving when He didn’t answer my prayers the way I wanted.
• of being uncaring when I suffered unjustly.

In every one of these situations lies clouded my thinking. The more I believed the lies, the more I doubted God’s love for me. And the more I doubted God’s love for me, the more miserable I became. 

Jesus warned us that our enemy Satan is the Father of lies (John 8:44). He spins his lies in an effort to steal, kill, and destroy the abundant life Jesus wants for us (John 10:10). 

Thankfully we have another choice. When we decide to believe God’s truths, we free ourselves of the misery caused by Satan’s lies:

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32 NIV)

Jesus promises we will know the truth when we hold on to His teaching. The Greek word translated as hold, menó, can also mean to abide, remain, or stay. It creates a picture of someone who consistently lives in obedience to the teachings of Jesus. 

For me this is a three-step process:

• Learning the truth through examining the Scriptures 
• Choosing to believe the truth
• Exchanging the truths for the lies I’ve believed 

When I apply that process, I see the truth:

• God isn’t silent ~ He always hears our prayers and answers them on His timeline (1 Peter 3:12). 
• God isn’t unloving ~ He answers prayers for our ultimate good (1 John 5:14-15).
• God isn’t uncaring ~ we live in a broken world where suffering happens. But He alone can give a positive purpose for our pain (Romans 8:28).

It takes time and intentionality, but holding on to the truth does set me free. God’s truths lead me to a much more joyful and peaceful place than any of the lies I believe.

Wherever our life’s journey leads, I’m sure we will be tempted to believe lies ~ lies which will try to lead us away from God. When this happens, I pray we hold on to the truths of the One who leads us to freedom.