The Lies that Bind

by Lena Larsen

“God, the Master, The Holy of Israel, has this solemn counsel:

‘Your salvation requires you to turn back to Me and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves. Your strength will come from settling down in complete dependence on Me—The very thing you’ve been unwilling to do.’” (Isaiah 30:15, MSG)

There are an awful lot of lies in the world. Some I roll my eyes at, but others seem to stick in my heart like burrs. They’re the ones that I’m constantly (and unconsciously) drawn back to. They keep popping up in each new season with a slightly different guise and when God helps me see what I’m believing and acting out of, all I can think is, “Really? This again?”

One of them is this: “If I can just figure out the right thing to do, everything will be okay.”

A few weeks ago, I was preparing to meet with some people to address a conflict. Not my favorite. I thought I was handling it pretty well, though. Then my day of rest came. I slept in, took things easy, but I wasn’t at rest. As the day went on, the restlessness within me seemed to grow. My body was resting, but my spirit couldn’t. I kept thinking about the meeting—what I should say, how people might respond, if this was really the best course of action—until I couldn’t take it anymore.

Crying out to God, He brought me back to a well-loved verse. One that spoke right at the lies I was living.

“Stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.”

Oh, right. That doesn’t just apply to my conversion.

“Your strength will come from settling down in complete dependence on Me.”

Settle down. Let You take care of things. Can You take away this weight of trying to control things and figure them out?

And He did. Because of my initial unwillingness, it came late in the day, but taking time to cry out to God and listen for His response revealed the lie that was robbing me of rest. Gradually letting go and letting God be God brought peace. For the remainder of the day I was at rest.

Warmly in Christ,

Lena Larsen

For Reflection:

“This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength…’” (Isaiah 30:15, NIV)

1. What are the lies that tend to stick with you?
2. Is God saying anything to you about what repentance from believing them might look like?
3. Is there anything weighing on you today with which you would like to trust God?