In my sophomore year of college, I remember one day being pulled in for a meeting with my professor as he handed me a “D-“ paper and said with a serious face, “I don’t think you actually read the material when you wrote this. What happened here? Maybe it’s time to drop this class.”
And my heart sank. I went home that day and cried MANY tears, because I felt like I had completely failed college. He was right, I didn’t commit to all of the reading and just rushed to write a paper because I failed to manage my time. Everything started closing in on me and I started to wonder: Can I even finish this course? Can I even graduate college?!
As Pastor Jason shared this past Sunday, the enemy is not equal to God…but he is certainly a crafty and manipulative being bent on our destruction.
What I didn’t realize about that meeting in my professor’s office was that yes, I had failed to complete the assignment and over-scheduled myself as a college student — but on a deeper level, Satan was using this incident to incite fear in my heart that I might actually not finish college, or even worse — that my life would become a complete and total “failure”.
Satan specializes in taking one of our wrong turns, one bad decision, one movement towards our flesh…and turning it into a catastrophic lie that our life is falling apart, or we will never again be right with God.
The enemy of our souls speaks in terms of shame, regret, hopelessness and fear.
If he can convince you that you are beyond hope, and can’t start again, or can’t come to the Lord with your misstep - he has successfully fed you a lie.
Because it isn’t actually true is it? We know as believers that no matter what we’ve done, our Jesus welcomes us back with open arms. Like the prodigal son returning home, He will always choose to throw us a feast and rejoice at our homecoming. He will always cheer for us as we stand up after being beat down by the enemy. He is always working for our good.
I’m happy to say that I did graduate college and even finish that one course. But if I could go back and talk to that young girl who thought she was failing, this is what I would say: Let Jesus hold you right now. I promise everything will be OK. You will get through this and see grace on the other side. But right here, right now, I need you to not believe the lie that your life is falling apart. I need you to stand in truth that God is big enough to forgive you for this misstep and is ready and willing to embrace you with open arms. Run to Him, confess, and keep moving forward. Girl, you have a race to run!
In the same way, I hope you can look back this week on some ways that the enemy has kept you in fear or shame over past struggles, or even current ones. How has he tried to lie to you about the character of God, about your identity, or about where your life is headed?
We must carry out what it says in Ephesian 6:10-11, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
As you seek Jesus in all of this, remember His heart for you. Remember that He stands at the edge of that boxing ring as you get hit with punches yelling, “Get up! I believe in you! Get up!” And let that motivate you to once again, stand up, get back in the fight, and remember who your incredible God is!
And my heart sank. I went home that day and cried MANY tears, because I felt like I had completely failed college. He was right, I didn’t commit to all of the reading and just rushed to write a paper because I failed to manage my time. Everything started closing in on me and I started to wonder: Can I even finish this course? Can I even graduate college?!
As Pastor Jason shared this past Sunday, the enemy is not equal to God…but he is certainly a crafty and manipulative being bent on our destruction.
What I didn’t realize about that meeting in my professor’s office was that yes, I had failed to complete the assignment and over-scheduled myself as a college student — but on a deeper level, Satan was using this incident to incite fear in my heart that I might actually not finish college, or even worse — that my life would become a complete and total “failure”.
Satan specializes in taking one of our wrong turns, one bad decision, one movement towards our flesh…and turning it into a catastrophic lie that our life is falling apart, or we will never again be right with God.
The enemy of our souls speaks in terms of shame, regret, hopelessness and fear.
If he can convince you that you are beyond hope, and can’t start again, or can’t come to the Lord with your misstep - he has successfully fed you a lie.
Because it isn’t actually true is it? We know as believers that no matter what we’ve done, our Jesus welcomes us back with open arms. Like the prodigal son returning home, He will always choose to throw us a feast and rejoice at our homecoming. He will always cheer for us as we stand up after being beat down by the enemy. He is always working for our good.
I’m happy to say that I did graduate college and even finish that one course. But if I could go back and talk to that young girl who thought she was failing, this is what I would say: Let Jesus hold you right now. I promise everything will be OK. You will get through this and see grace on the other side. But right here, right now, I need you to not believe the lie that your life is falling apart. I need you to stand in truth that God is big enough to forgive you for this misstep and is ready and willing to embrace you with open arms. Run to Him, confess, and keep moving forward. Girl, you have a race to run!
In the same way, I hope you can look back this week on some ways that the enemy has kept you in fear or shame over past struggles, or even current ones. How has he tried to lie to you about the character of God, about your identity, or about where your life is headed?
We must carry out what it says in Ephesian 6:10-11, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
As you seek Jesus in all of this, remember His heart for you. Remember that He stands at the edge of that boxing ring as you get hit with punches yelling, “Get up! I believe in you! Get up!” And let that motivate you to once again, stand up, get back in the fight, and remember who your incredible God is!
Erika Pizzo
Erika is an author of various books on the topics of faith, mental health, and victory in Christ. She also hosts the weekly podcast “Temple Care†where she provides regular messages of encouragement. Erika lives with her husband, daughter, son, and their fluffy poodle in sunny Southern California. Her two favorite things are a visit to the beach and a chai latte in hand.