Promises
Did you know that there are over 3,000 promises in the Bible? God has given us his word that He will do certain things–without fail. Yet one of the greatest strategies of Satan and his cohort of demons is to tempt us to doubt the trustworthy words of God. In fact, the first words out of the serpent’s mouth in Genesis 3 were, “Did God really say…?”
The temptation to sin and turn our backs on God’s righteous plan begins with doubting God’s Word. We doubt that God’s plan really is the best one for our lives and, therefore, is not worth following. Instead, we are tempted to live for ourselves and go through life desperately trying to construct our own realities apart from God’s ways. We often think that we can create, through our actions and ideas, a better world than the one God has created. We become enamored by the temptation to do life on our own terms and experience some type of self-centered, self-gratifying utopia.
The French writer, Denis de Rougemont, in is insightful book entitled, The Devil’s Share: An Essay on the Diabolic in Modern Society, writes these words about the nature of temptation:
Thus temptation is always utopia–if utopia be the imagination, followed by the desire of a good which reality condemns and which the divine plan does not anticipate. Satan, when he tempts Christ, proposes to him three utopias, three ways of gaining the world by a shorter road than the path to Golgotha.
When Jesus was confronted with the temptations to pursue an easier and less sacrificial route, he retaliated with the Word of God: man does not live on bread alone, worship the Lord your God and serve him only, and do not put the Lord your God to the test. Christ refused to doubt God’s word; he relied on divine promises.
If you find yourself doubting one or all of God’s 3000 promises for your life, understand where those seeds of doubt originate. The serpent is clever, shrewd, and subtle in his movements. Fight back with the very words of God you are tempted to doubt–and watch Christ fulfill his amazing promises in your life.