I once thought living in full surrender to God would mean my life would become boring. I thought all my fun would end. So, for years I held back. I offered parts of me, while my hands were clinched tightly on my greatest desires. I just knew if I offered it all to God, he would take the best parts away and leave me with a life I didn’t love.
Wow – was I wrong.
This life lived in wild abandon and total trust in God is the greatest adventure I’ve ever been on. My hands are wide open and I’ve let go of everything, and somehow my life is absolutely overflowing. Those desires I was so afraid to surrender have been changed into even greater things and made realities.
Why didn’t anyone tell me how good this would be? Instead, I lived so many years of my life fearful of what God might take away from me and suspicious of what he was withholding from me.
Does God hold back the good stuff when we trust him? Can the best stuff only be found on your own, apart from a life of surrender? Do you have to make things happen for yourself? Do you have to look out for #1? Do you have to question God?
Let’s be very clear – living like that will cause you to fall. You will fall for the tricks of the enemy of your soul when you begin to think God is keeping something from you. You will fall right into the traps of Satan when you try to get what you want in your own ways. When what you want takes first place and God is put in second, the door is open for absolute destruction in your life.
My friends, that’s precisely what happened to Eve in the garden. She was tricked into believing God was withholding the best stuff from her. She thought there was something better for her that God had been hiding. And that’s exactly how it happens. A seed of doubt is planted, questioning if God is holding out on you, so you’re willing to go around him to get what you think you want.
What is sin? It’s what God says you shouldn’t do, right? Actually, no. This isn’t about what you should and shouldn’t do. Sin is so much more about what falls short of God’s best for you. Sin isn’t just the forbidden things you’re not supposed to do, sin is what will harm you. Sin is the very thing God is trying to protect you from. Not because he’s withholding the good stuff from you and labeling it as sin. Actually, quite the opposite. God is protecting us from the things he knows would harm us the most. The things that cause shame, guilt and regret. The things that separate us from him. The things that confuse us, bind us, create addictions and separation.
But do you know what Satan says? Satan says it’s only called sin to keep you from experiencing more in life. It’s not that bad. It won’t hurt you. You’ll just get to see what you’ve been missing.
We live in a fallen world where Satan and his demons roam around like a roaring lion, trying to kill, steal and destroy everything that is good. You are good. Your life is good. The purpose for which you were created is good. The plans God has for your future are good. And it’s all under absolute attack. Everything good has a bullseye for evil. To fight this battle, it is crucial for you to know how the enemy attacks.
How does he trick us? What does he say?
Here it is – Satan quite simply TWISTS God’s words in a way that makes you feel like something is missing. He twists what isn’t good for you into looking like something that would make you happy. And he tricks you into doing things that will make you hide in shame.
You see, once you know Satan’s game, you can quickly see his nasty moves. In a nutshell, the devil tries to make you think sin is not bad and God is not good.
Sin is considered sin because God says it’s not good for you. Sin will hurt you.