Satan's Dirty Little Secret

The sermon last week on Ephesians 6 - putting on the whole armor of God - has me thinking about the tricks and strategies of the evil one. For one thing, the Bible tells us that Satan is an accuser...

...In the book of Job, Satan is described numerous times as an accuser - Job 1:6 "Satan the Accuser". He accused Job of only following God because of his wealth and prosperity. When God describes Job, He describes him this way, "a man of complete integrity. He fears God and will have nothing to do with evil".

Satan accuses Job right there - "Yes, Job fears God, but not without good reason! Look how rich he is... take away everything and he will surely curse you in the face."

And so begins the pattern of accusations for Job - and the rest of us.

"You aren't good enough to do anything in this church"
"Everything in your life has gone right - your faith in God is meaningless without suffering"
"You won't make it as a follower of Christ to the end of your life - not if you're struggling like this right now - no way you'll make it."
"Would a believer have done THAT? said THAT? You're not a believer."

But there's another trick of Satan. I call it his Dirty Little Secret because that is exactly what it is - a secret. He tells you that if anyone would know about "THAT", they would reject you, you would lose your friendships and your life as you know it would be OVER.

His lie is that if you keep it secret, you will be able to "handle it", "stop it", "forget about it". His lie is that you can do this on your own. He tells you that somewhere in the depths of your being, you will be able to find the strength and the courage and the discipline to stop yourself from something that started off as one-time, that grew to more-times and now is an entrenched habit, addiction or perpetual thinking pattern.

The lie is rooted in fear and shame.

We are scared that if anyone knew about our secret, they would reject us. Our secret is bigger than the love we have in our lives. To tell about it would put into jeopardy all of the relationships that we deem as most important.

Manage it by yourself. Figure it out by yourself. Don't get anyone else involved. That's Satan's lie - his dirty little secret.

It might be very true that certain people will reject you because of your weaknesses and the times that you have fallen into temptation. It's a half-truth, though, because there are so many people who won't reject you - people who love and fear God - people who have known God's grace extended into their lives and who will extend it into your life.

The Bible talks about the power of telling another person what is going on in your life:

James 5:16
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

What does it mean to confess our sins to each other? To start with, it means that you can't do this on your own. That plan - the "manage this yourself" plan is all part of the scheme.

It means that we need to tell someone what is going on in our life. What are they supposed to do with it? They are there to pray for you so that you can be healed.

What does it mean to be healed? It means to be FREE. To be totally free from the power of "THAT" in your life. It says so right in this verse that there will be great power and wonderful results.

This is almost impossible to believe if you have never experienced anything other than Satan's dirty little secret. His secret is a lie. If you keep this secret, you will NEVER manage it yourself. That's the lie.

Is it time to try another way? To stop listening to the Accuser in your life?

The Bible tells us that God himself understands what you are facing - it says that Jesus was tempted in every way that we are tempted (sexual, greed, self-pity, anger, jealousy, fear...) and yet was without sin. God himself has felt the same strong urgings that you feel.

I love 1 and 2 Corinthians. One of the reasons is because Paul tells us in those books some of the most vulnerable thoughts he has about himself. In fact, if you look up the word "weakness" in the BibleGateway website, you will find that almost all the verses about weakness come from 1 or 2 Corinthians.

Here is one that has brought encouragement - and FREEDOM from Satan's lies:

8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Are you trapped by the lie that you can do this on your own?
Are you trapped by the fear that if you tell someone you will be rejected?

Those of us who were at the Women's Retreat last September saw God break the chains of bondage in the lives of the women who shared their struggles. It was a safe place and the dirty little secret was proven to be a lie. Women were NOT rejected. In fact, the exact opposite happened - we grew stronger and closer. Women were supported and freed from the bondage of this lie.

Come to the front one Sunday when Gary calls you forward. I'll be waiting there to hear you and to pray with you. If you come in droves, we will call up the gracious and safe women in the church to stand by all of you.

May you have the courage to do what the Holy Spirit is speaking to you.

Some verses for your encouragement:

1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it

Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.

Heb. 4:14-16 (The Message)
Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let's not let it slip through our fingers. We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.