“Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life.”—Ezekiel 13:22

There is a God in Heaven who knows where you are, what you’re grappling with and how much longer you can take it.

David cried in Psalm 119:176, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.” God is coming after you dear friend!

Is the following true about you?

• I have walked in lies.—Jeremiah 23:14, 22–24
• I have observed lying vanities.—Jonah 2:8
• I have taken refuge in lies.—Hosea 7:13–15; 10:13

Have you believed Satan’s lies?

• It doesn’t matter what I do or don’t do.
• It doesn’t matter whether or not I stick around
• I’ve wasted my life.
• Nobody cares if I continue.

Satan is the father of lies. All of his children are lies. There is not a true servant of God who hasn’t been lied about and lied to:

• Eve believed the lie that you can act independently of God and prosper.
• The Israelites believed the lie that it would be better to go back to what they had instead of to keep going toward what they did not have yet.
• Lot believed the lie that the comforts of this world had more to offer him and his family than God did.
• Achan believed the lie that he and his family would be better off looking out for themselves instead of paying the price of obedience.
• Elimelech believed the lie that you can wander away from God and His will and it won’t cost your family.
• Samson believed the lie that you can play with the fire of temptation and not be burned.
• Uzziah believed the lie that you can abuse the privilege of your position and not be called into account.
• David believed the lie that you can take what belongs to someone else and keep what belongs to you.
• Job believed the lie that when you’ve lost so much and hurt so deeply you’re finished, and there’s no good at all left in your future.
• Peter believed the lie that once you’ve failed the Lord and turned aside from following Him that He could never use you again.
• Our Lord, in His humanity, just about believed the lie that He had labored in vain and spent His strength for naught.
  “Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.”—Isaiah 49:4

Don’t stumble about in the darkness of deception. Don’t forsake your uniquely designed mercies from the hand of a merciful God who knows the exact mercies you need. Don’t take refuge in the prison of sin—believe the truth instead.

1. Get alone with God as Paul did in the storm.

“But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them…”—Acts 27:21

2. Get a promise to hold on to from His Word.

“Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.”—Acts 27:25

3. Get back out among the people and lead them to safety.

“Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved… And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.”—Acts 27:31, 44

Hold to the promise of God and you will find the God of the promises holding you.