You walk into a party, scan the room and immediately feel insecure. It’s not that you don’t know anyone, in fact you know plenty of people. But everyone is already clustered with their group of friends so you aren’t sure where to break into a conversation. To advert the awkwardness, you get in line for a drink, pulling out your phone while you wait. But it’s too late, arrows of accusation start sailing toward you.
- “All these people are here with their closest friends so they really don’t want you interrupting their conversations.”
- “You don’t have anything interesting to say anyway. They all lead much busier, fuller lives. And what do you have to show for yourself?”
- “Plus, look them. They are perfect. Why did you wear this dress anyway, it does nothing to hide your flaws?”
Of course, deep in your own little world you have no idea what arrows of accusation are hitting others in the room too. You just think you are the only one because the beautiful clothes, laughter, and circles of people disguise what’s really going on inside others’ heads too.
Meanwhile, your son is at home trying to do his homework but he keeps getting stung by arrows of accusation.
- “You’re so stupid. No one else even thinks this class is hard. Of course not, they all have higher ACT scores than you.”
- Everyone is going to really laugh when you fail the math test and turn up ineligible to play next week.”
- “But it hardly matters since you aren’t seeing much playing time anyway. What a loser.”
- “Oh, and that cheerleader who rejected you, you know she told all her friends and they are laughing at you too.”
Arrows of accusation – one of Satan’s favorite ploys.
He shoots straight at our insecurities to hit where doubt and shame already simmers. His whole aim is make us stop resting in Jesus so he keeps firing off arrows to make certain his lies become the “truth” we believe. Lies that convince us we don’t measure up, are less-than, worthless, or unloved.
What makes the Master of Lies even more effective is keeping us isolated. We’re more vulnerable that way. As long as he can keep us from turning to God or talking to others, the lies can run rampant in the darkness of our minds, sinking us into deeper despair.
Life is a battlefield – let’s get that straight.
Satan’s fiery weapons are going to keep coming no matter how old we are or how long we’ve been a Christian. So what we need to learn, and what we must teach our kids, is how to stand firm against the attack.
In Ephesians 6:13-17 Paul tells us to take up the whole armor of God so that we may stand firm against the enemy. Every piece of the armor he goes on to describe is essential, but he starts with the “belt,” the truth of the gospel because it holds everything else in place.
Christ’s righteousness securing God’s love and acceptance of us is the “breastplate” that will keep those arrows from penetrating. Paired of course with our “shield” of faith to trust God in all circumstances, our “helmet”of salvation through Christ, and our “sword” which is the Word of God. But we must keep our “sandals” on so we are prepared and ready to plant our feet solidly into the gospel of peace.
Now you may be thinking: “That’s great, but how does that work practically for me when I’m standing at the party alone or my son is beating himself up in his bedroom?”
Pull on that armor in your self-talk. Or, what I call gospel self-talk.
It’s what we have to preach to ourselves, over and over all the time. But to preach it, we have to be bathed in it. This means we must be Word-saturated. It’s why a gospel-centered church is so essential. And why surrounding ourselves with people who point us back to the cross and also identify with us and enter in is the kind of community we need.
When Satan’s lies are exposed and encounter the gospel they can’t triumph against us like they do unguarded in the darkness. So I urge you to stand firm in the truth of the gospel to know no matter what anyone else thinks or says about you, or you even think they think about you, God’s opinion is the only one that matters. Because He set his love upon you, Christ lived and died to ensure your permanent status as his treasured child.
Take that Satan!
Portions of this blog post were taken from Week 34 in my book Get Your Story Straight.
