I’ve been up since 3:00 am. Not because I wanted to be, mind you, but I just woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep. This used to be a big problem for me, and, thankfully, I’ve made some changes and it’s happening much less frequently. Still, I’m no stranger to walking around the house in the dark.

Darkness has a way of making you feel confined because you have no way of knowing how much space you really have around you. You can’t see very far beyond yourself, or the true reality of your world. I sit here on this sofa, surrounded by darkness, and I can’t even see my own feet. Also, have you ever noticed how you can hear sounds at night that you never notice during the day? Right now, I can hear the air conditioner, crickets and locusts outside, and a clock in the kitchen. And they’re LOUD. The ice maker dropped some ice a few minutes ago, and caused me to jump, as did the pool pump when it started outside the window. I never hear any of this at all when the sun is shining, or if I do happen to hear it, it certainly doesn’t scare me!

This has me thinking of a friend who is taking a pilgrimage of sorts. She has a lot of pain and missteps in her past that she is working through, and, in the process, has found so much that has stemmed from lies. Lies from the enemy of her soul; truly, he is not called the Father of Lies for nothing.

He’s a professional liar for one reason and one reason only:

Lies are meant to blindfold us to the truth.

If he can get us to buy in to a lie, then the blindfold goes on, bringing darkness and confinement with it. Suddenly, damaging thoughts that are not our own move to the forefront of our minds and, in the darkness, seem louder and more pronounced than ever before. They startle us with their ferocity and frighten us into believing they are a real threat. So we begin to move and act and live in this new dark reality, making one decision after another based on the fiction in our minds.

The longer he can keep us living this counterfeit existence, the longer he can keep us away from living in authentic abundance…

The longer he can keep us from the Light.

If you can look back to a painful event in your life, and, when you think of it, you hear a voice in your mind say something like “You’re not lovable,” or “You don’t matter,” then you, my friend, have been lied to. Life is really not as dark as it seems, or it doesn’t have to be.

If lies blindfold us to truth, truth opens our eyes to the lies.

And thankfully, there is Someone who IS truth, ready to snatch that blindfold off and let the Light pour back in.

“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 NLT

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

“Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12 NLT

{Speaking of the devil} “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44 NIV