40 Days of Believing God – Day 3

It’s now day 3 of our journey together. The first day might have been fun. It was still the weekend, the start of something new and you probably exchanged encouraging emails with your partner.

Day 2 fell on Monday. Or maybe it felt like Monday fell on you. Maybe things didn’t go so well. Your boss was upset. An unexpected bill came in the mail. You fought with your spouse. Or whatever obstacle was there last week is still hanging around this week. You may have found it tough to believe God can help.

One of the reasons you will experience some difficulty during these 40 days is due to the fact that you have an enemy. We need to remember that. The last thing he wants is for you to believe God. No, your enemy wants your full attention on your circumstances, your weaknesses, your inadequacies and your lack of resources. The last thing he wants is for you to believe God can and will help you.

Satan, which means “deceiver”, has plans for you today. His name alone tells us that he will attempt to deceive you. You will attempt to believe God and remain positive. He will try to deceive you into believing God is not good and can’t be trusted. It’s what he did to Adam and Eve.

Jesus told us in John 10:10 that the thief (Satan) came to steal, kill and destroy. Paul wrote in Ephesians 6 that the devil is scheming against us. Jesus also said the devil is the father of lies.

I don’t share all this to cause an unhealthy focus on our enemy. Our focus and attention must be on Christ. But it would be foolish to embark on a 40 day journey of believing God and think the enemy of our souls will not notice.

If you’ve already encountered difficulty in believing God, if your circumstances suddenly turned worse, if you feel bombarded by negative thoughts, then keep fighting! You’re on the right track. Don’t give into the lies and deceptions. That’s all they are. Don’t believe them.

James wrote in chapter 4 of his letter: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Surrender fully to God. Give him control of every area of your life. Then choose to believe Him and reject the enemy’s lies. The devil will flee. You have it on the authority of God Himself.

Keep believing. Keep encouraging each other. God is up to something in your life. The best is just ahead.