Lie # 6 - Powerless

Lies of the enemy:
1. You are weak.
2. You are damaged goods.
3. You can't do anything right.
4. How helpless can one person be?
5. Someone's always got to take care of and/or clean up the messes you make.

Ouch.... but how many of these can you relate to. I feel like I'm making good progress in my healing. I feel like I have a long way to go, but I feel like I'm also a long way from where I started. Yet, going through this Bible Study, I am seeing so many lies that I still believe. Despite improved self-esteem and self-confidence, it's surprising how many of the lies we've talked about so far that I still find myself believing to be true. It just goes to show how sneaky satan is to still slip things like this into our thinking even when you know you're on the right track. Praise God for Bible studies like these and good friends who help continue to point things out to you so you can let go of the lies and continue to embrace the you that you really are.

Your true identity: POWERFUL

2 Timothy 1:7 - For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Debilitating fear that leaves us powerless is not from God. While in my personal opinion, I do not believe that fear is a sin nor does God get angry at us for it, fear that keeps us from acting is not of Him. Courage and power does not mean fear is not allowed (although if my faith in God was always strong enough, I probably wouldn't have fear), but it means we fight on and push through our fears because we know our Creator is stronger than whatever we face here on the planet. God gives us his power and that power is strong enough to overcome anything!

1 John 4:4 - You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you that he who is in the world.

"He who is in the world" in this context refers to satan and his allies. Isn't reassuring to hear straight from the Bible that God in us is greater than anything else we may encounter and he has already overcome!?!?!??!

1 John 5:4-5 - For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the son of God.

Believing and trusting in something that you can't blatantly see requires a lot of faith. The best way I know to tell people who struggle b/c they say they can't see God is to try to show her/him how he's in everything - just not in the ways we're used to. He's in a warm hug from a friend, a daisy in a sidewalk, he's in the wind, the fire at a cookout... and on and on... God created everything and is in everything. With this thought, it amazes me that to overcome the world, all I have to do is believe that Jesus is the son of God and try to live my life for him.

Trauma - past or current makes you feel powerless.... powerless to stop what's happening to you, what you're being forced to do, and powerless to control all of the feelings and emotions that accompany the trauma. But this "weakness" is only temporary in Christ Jesus. He can strengthen you here on this planet and there will be no weakness in you in Heaven. When Jesus was taken into custody, flogged, tortured and crucified, you can bet he was weak physically, mentally, and emotionally. But it was only temporary. God rescued him like he will rescue us. Also, those experiences mean Jesus knows exactly what it's like to be backed up against a wall and holding on for dear life. He truly can understand your pain and suffering. All God asked of Jesus during that time was to hold on. His power would be restored to him at the proper time. You may be feeling week now, and maybe all God is asking of you is to hold on. He will always come through. He NEVER fails.

Truth # 6 You are POWERFUL!!