Did you know kids in school who could talk you into trouble? I did…I was duped. Inevitably when we were about to get caught, they’d drop me like a live sample of Influenza A! They knew exactly how to play me. I realized their ideas were sketchy, but I was willing to go along because of one 4 letter word: FEAR.

I remember one such instance when a classmate talked me into a ridiculous scheme. The goal was to avoid taking a test in our Spanish class. We were not prepared for the test because we had been out too late the night before. My part in the scheme was to run out of the room with one hand over my mouth and the other hand clutching my stomach, pretending to be sick. Then my “crime boss” classmate would act concerned and ask if she could go check on me in the bathroom. We would hang out there until the bell rang. Brilliant. I remember her persuasively telling me, “Senor Lyman will never know you’re faking.”

Well, I’ve never claimed to be a talented actress!  Apparently Senor Lyman wasn’t convinced by my melodramatic exit. As soon as my classmate realized that her plan wasn’t going to work, she told Senor Lyman that I had tried to persuade her to skip class with me! I got a detention and loads of grief from that whole deal. Oh mylanta!

Looking back, it’s easy to see that my “friend” didn’t care about me one iota. Interestingly enough, I have learned that our enemy, Satan, does the same thing to us all the time!  He’s awfully good at presenting ideas that look like they will benefit us, but actually will result in more trouble than we could have ever imagined. And when the consequences of our sin start to happen, he is the “accuser of the brethren” and only comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). He is the ultimate deceiver.

Remembering that whole scenario back in school, I certainly cannot claim innocence. I did what I did because I was afraid of failing the test and of letting my classmate down. Plus she might’ve told everybody how much of a prude I was. Gasp!

There’s the rub: fears dictate our feelings. But when we go with how we feel at the time, instead of what is right, we can plan on disaster. Even if I had gotten away with fooling Senor Lyman, that path of deception would have eventually taken me to deeper, more treacherous waters of T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

So if we can’t go with how we feel, how do we know what is right? As Adam Donyes says, “If it’s not in the Word, forget what you heard!” It’s all about God’s Word; knowing it and doing it leads us to ultimate success.

Do you know that Satan knows God’s word backward and forward? Do you know that he understands everything you have as a redeemed child of God? We can tell Satan, “But thanks be to God, who always leads me in triumph in Christ! (2 Corinthians 2:14). Greater is He that is in me than he that is in this world! (1 John 4:4). God did not give me a spirit of fear, but instead a spirit of POWER, LOVE and SELF DISCIPLINE! (2 Timothy 1:7).

But Satan is awfully tricky. He knows how to deceive us and distract us. He also knows how to scare us. When we make a decision based on fear (because the enemy has deceived us…that his way is the best way) it’s like letting that kid in school talk us into trouble! Nothing about it will benefit us. It will only lead to regret.

Satan wants everyone to go down with him, and he definitely wants us to turn away from God. He will do everything he can to keep us away from God’s word, from praying and from church. Satan understands that when we know God’s truth and when we know we can receive help through prayer…we will catch on to his deceptive games!

When I think about how I’ve been duped before, it puts a fire in me to wise up and be strong in the Lord! I don’t know what you might be afraid of, or what areas you are tempted to listen to the enemy, but I want to encourage you to wise-up in the Word! We can do what Jesus did when Satan came and tried to tempt Him: quote the Word back to him and send him packing! The Word of God is the answer. It is absolutely the way to kick him to the curb…and to come out with the ultimate victory!

PS: Can I just say, thank you Senor Lyman for teaching me a great lesson! Gracias, buen trabajo!

PSS: Senor Lyman acted very much in the ways of our Heavenly Father, now that I reflect on it. He disciplined me, yet gave me grace. He allowed me to take the test and by the end of the year, I had an “A” in Spanish. He cared too much about me to let me go down the wrong path!

James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”