Satan loves to dump buckets of diminishment and discouragement on us. He taunts us with the lie that we’ll never overcome our bad habits and addictions. He specializes in telling us what we’ll never do. But then God comes along, offering freedom with an even more powerful word: nevertheless.
Wouldn’t you love God to write a nevertheless in your biography? Born to alcoholics, nevertheless she led a sober life. Never went to college, nevertheless he mastered a trade. Didn’t read the Bible until retirement age, nevertheless he came to a deep and abiding faith.
We all need a nevertheless. And God has plenty to go around. Strongholds mean nothing to him. Remember Paul’s words? “I use God’s mighty weapons, not those made by men, to knock down the devil’s strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4 TLB).
WE ALL NEED A NEVERTHELESS. AND GOD HAS PLENTY TO GO AROUND.
And it begins with us practicing the art of selective listening.
Two types of thoughts continuously vie for your attention. One says, “Yes, you can.” The other says, “No, you can’t.” One says “God will help you.” The other lies, “God has left you.” One speaks the language of heaven; the other deceives in the vernacular of the enemy. One proclaims God’s strengths; the other lists your failures. One longs to build you up; the other seeks to tear you down.
Here’s the great news: you select the voice you hear. Why listen to the mockers? Why heed their voices? Why give ear to pea-brains and scoffers when you can, with the same ear, listen to the voice of God?
Turn a deaf ear to the old voices.
Open a wide eye to the new choices.
“God’s power is very great for us who believe. That power is the same as the great strength God used to raise Christ from the dead and put him at his right side in the heavenly world” (Ephesians 1:19–20 NCV).