There are few things more disheartening or frustrating than realizing that you have been the victim of a thief. Something you, or someone who loves you, worked for, saved for, planned for, needed and desired enough to sacrifice for has been taken by someone who coveted what rightfully belongs to you. So desperate, so anxious they saw no other way to satisfy desires that consume them than to take what they have no right to. By varying degrees we have all experienced loss to thievery.
There are different kinds of thieves. Some you will never know. You will never see them coming and you will never know they have even been where they had no right to be until you discover what was yours is now missing, gone, taken, never to be seen again. The things we value the most are protected and guarded closely; so the thief who would relieve us of our most valuable possessions must devise cunning deceptions to first gain our trust. Gaining access to resources that provide great promise and security requires well crafted lies. This master thief actually gains our confidence that he is not a thief at all, but a trusted friend who is looking out for our best interest. We begin to agree with him that his ways are good, and we would be better to listen to him than to others who have proven themselves more faithful. In the Gospel of John we read these words of Jesus.
“The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10
Jesus came to deliver us from the cunning thief. He came to shine a light on what the thief is doing in the darkness. He wants those who are trusting in Him for eternal salvation to enjoy a life of fullness, not the emptiness that comes from believing the lies of the thief.
Many of God’s sons and daughters are living perplexed and confused. They are anxious, stressed and discouraged. They have a hard time reconciling the reality of their lives with the promises of God’s Word. They read passages like Matthew 11:28-29 where Jesus says,”Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” and then they take a Xanax (or two) to fall asleep at night.
A logical faith says that if I am experiencing less than what Jesus said I would experience when I come to Him, then I am believing less of what He said and more of what the Thief is saying.
Here’s the problem. Trouble and opportunity come to all of us, and when it does we have to make a choice. Are we going to believe what God’s Word says or are we going to believe what the Thief says. Who is the Thief? In John 8:44 Jesus identifies him when talking to the religious leaders of the day. He said, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” The Thief’s number one priority is to rob God of His glory, that He seeks to reveal in you and I, the crown of His creation. The only method he has to do this is to persuade you and I through cunning lies and deceptions that we can not trust God. He seeks to persuade our choices. That’s right. It’s still our choice. He preys on our simple minds and human frailties and many times we fall prey to his lies and schemes; and every time we do, we lose. The Thief says, “You can’t wait for God. He isn’t going to provide for you. He doesn’t care about you. You can’t trust Him. He will never come through for you. He is not enough now and He never will be. Just look around. He is nowhere to be found.” And every time we agree with the devil and make God, our loving Father a liar, we are cut off from God’s best for us and in comes anxiousness, confusion, discouragement and grief. Whenever there is loss, there is grief, and grief alone can be crushing.
I didn’t say we are cut off from God, but from His best for our lives. He will never leave His child, but neither will He reward His child for believing a lie either. The Good News is that Jesus paid the price for every choice we have ever made and ever will make that robs us of God’s best. Not trusting in God is sin and the wages of sin is death, but Jesus died for us. He paid the penalty for our sins so that we could be reconciled to the Father and learn to walk in faith and obedience. He is faithful and true and wants to satisfy all of our desires with good things that renews our strength instead of things that rob us of spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health.
Ask God where you are believing a lie and the enemy is robbing you of His best for your life. He will answer that prayer. I guarantee it upon the authority of His Word.