Spiritual Discernment: Exposing the Enemy’s Lies with God’s Light

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." John 10:10

“A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a diseased tree bear good fruit.” Matthew 7:18

In our house, we enjoy a good game of “fact or fiction.” My husband, who tends to be a little bit of a word nerd, will make up something that sounds close enough to the truth and have my daughter choose between the two choices. For example, “pick the real band name: Smashing Pumpkins or Shattering Blueberries”. You get the idea.

Recently, we have been reading the Chronicles of Narnia book series with our 8-year-old and are currently on The Last Battle. If you haven’t experienced this series for yourself, I would highly recommend it. The way Lewis weaves in spiritual truths in the magical world of Narnia is nothing short of genius. We’re only halfway through this particular book, and I have already been floored about the spiritual lessons found inside. Don’t worry, I won’t go into the full story, but there is one aspect I’d like to focus on. The story begins in the last days of Narnia. It has been years since Aslan (the character that represents Jesus) has been seen or heard from, and Shift, a crafty Ape, a false prophet of sorts, uses a dimwitted donkey “Puzzle” and a lion skin to try to convince Narnians that Aslan has come back in order to gain power and rule over them. So, every night when the light is dim, Shift dresses Puzzle up in a lion skin to convince Narnians that Aslan has come back, so that anything that Shift orders will be obeyed in Aslan’s name.

“No one who had ever seen a real lion would have been taken in for a moment. But if someone who had never seen a lion looked at Puzzle in his lion-skin he might just mistake him for a lion, if he didn’t come too close, and if the light was not too good, and if Puzzle didn’t let out a bray and didn’t make any noise with his hoofs.” Later in the story, we as the reader see Tirian the Narnian king’s perspective: “From where Tirian was he could not make out very clearly what the thing was; but he could see that it was yellow and hairy. He had never seen the Great Lion. He had never seen a common lion. He couldn’t be sure that what he saw was not the real Aslan. He had not expected Aslan to look like that stiff thing which stood and said nothing. But how could one be sure? For a moment horrible thoughts went through his mind: then he remembered the nonsense about Tash and Aslan being the same and knew the whole thing must be a cheat.” Shift uses the sightings of “Aslan” every time the people requested to see him in order to give credibility to his lies. He speaks half truths in the dark to make people believe they had heard from Aslan. Another quote from the book that brings this home is “Mixing a little truth with a great lie is very effective.” Woah…if that doesn’t have parallels with our world today.

Sometimes, especially when life is heavy and hard, the enemy can speak half truths whispered in the dark to make us doubt God’s character. When these lies seem plausible and God seems silent, we can slowly move further away from the truth. Pain can make us weary and susceptible to things we never would have believed. Emotions intended to alert us instead become rulers that truth can’t seem to penetrate.

So, like Tirian asks, how can one be sure that God is in something? Have you ever asked this? I sure have. Have you ever been in a situation where you couldn’t tell fact from fiction? Not just in a fun game, but when it mattered.

1. Expose every doubt, every struggle, thought or question to scripture. Without scripture, we can forget what the truth looks like or sounds like. Sometimes it's just a slight tweak and if we’re not careful to examine our thinking and compare it to scripture, we can slowly drift off course and believe things about God we never thought we would. I love that the Word, Jesus Himself, describes himself as light. Light is needed to expose darkness. Suddenly, things that seem plausible seem less so.

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

“In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:4-5

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path," Psalm 119:105

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” Hebrews 4:12,13

2. Invite the Holy Spirit into the situation to guide your understanding and open your eyes to truth. Sometimes, Holy Spirit wisdom is very different from worldly wisdom. Sometimes, the holy spirit might feel like that sense, as in the case of Narnia, that something is not right. That something is a “cheat” or counterfeit. I am not just referring to intuition or emotion but a sense or impression that is continually confirmed by scripture and other believers.

   
   

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you" John 14:26

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” 1 John 4:1

3. Stay in community with other believers. This is God’s plan for us through the church. We need other believers to lift us up to the truth and alert us when something is wrong. Is this messy? Absolutely. Does this hurt at times? You betcha. But, we were never meant to walk alone.

   
   

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:24-25

“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” Proverbs 27:17 NLT

David himself reminds us in the Psalms that the Lord makes known the path of life and that Jesus himself is the true source of joy and life. Psalm 16:11 states, "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore"

Holy father, thank you that you are light. In you, there is no darkness. Thank you that your light overcomes the darkness every. time. Thank you for never leaving us alone. Thank you that you come near to us when we call and that you have made every provision for us when life seems to tell us otherwise. Help your truth to sink deep in our hearts and minds, so that we can experience the fullness of your joy.