It was a pleasant enough drive. I had just hopped onto life’s expressway after being greeted by a charcoal sky that couldn’t seem to find its blue. My hopes for joy were quickly interrupted by a fast-moving blur in the rear-view mirror. I was certain the car snaking toward me was black. And then the mirror was lit up by the car’s strobing lights and my cabin invaded by its pulsating siren. I was being pulled over by the ENEMY’s black car. I decelerated and angled my rig to the expressway’s edge.
The Enemy’s officer had a smirk on his face as he prepared to approach my car. I could tell he was excited to check out what had ended up in his trap. After all, he loves a highway’s roadside edge because he has us right where he wants us to be. It’s where he does some of his best work. And he has had a few thousand years to hone his evil skills.
In my pain, I tuned the car’s radio to the UNFORGIVEN CHANNEL and started listening to the playlist’s noisy and painful lyrics:
You have not “really” been FORGIVEN.
You have reached UNFORGIVABLE status.
You have passed your FORGIVENESS LIMIT.
And then the encore hit belted out its chorus: “Who You Gonna Believe?”
Answering that question correctly (and quickly) gets us back on the road and living in faithful trust of God’s PROTECTION PROMISE that assures us WE ARE FORGIVEN!
This is the only way to combat the Enemy’s lies when he pulls us over. This is when we must call on the power in God’s WORD to, as my good friend Jonathan says, “knock down Satan’s LIES with God’s TRUTH.”
While being tempted in the wilderness, Jesus modeled this best defense against the enemy by quoting God’s Word to Satan (Matthew 4:1-11). What happened? The same thing that will happen for us. Powerless against the truth, the devil left him.
To do that, we need to have God’s Word hidden in our heart (Psalm 119:11) for the next time that black car chases us. That’s how we slay the imposter. That’s how we watch him immediately disappear in our rear-view mirror. That’s how we get back on the road moving forward to fulfill God’s purpose and plan for our life.
I thank God for always being there when I get pulled over by the Enemy. For fulfilling his promise to forgive me. For making that possible by dying on the Cross for my sins.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
What will you do the next time you’re pulled over by the ENEMY? What will you choose to believe—Satan’s DARKNESS or God’s LIGHT?
“…as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” Psalm 103:12
