John 8:44 Jesus describes the devil as “a liar and the father of lies.”

We have all experienced the devil’s lies as thoughts put in our heads trying to convince us to turn from trusting God.

One of the damaging lies the devil hits us with is convincing us to think “God doesn’t love me.” This may occur when we receive terrible news, or when our prayers are not answered the way we hoped, or when things seem to be just getting worse and worse. Even though these are real things and very difficult for us, the devil tries to use these things to drive us to despair and discouragement. If he can convince us to believe God doesn’t love us, we will look for some other way to deal with our suffering.

In these times, what God wants us to do is put our entire faith and trust in Him. As difficult and painful as some things can be, God is there with us. We must endure with prayer, hope and trust in Him, with confidence that he knows and cares and will not give us more than we can endure.

As David shows us in Psalm 23, we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing….Even though I walk through the darkest valley I will fear no evil for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me…Surely your goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.” For this we thank you Lord. Amen.