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Have you ever felt like circumstances in your life are so massive and consuming that you can’t seem to see past them? All of us have faced times in life where we feel we struggle to see where God is at in the midst of our troubles. Satan works hard to create these situations in our lives. He subtly places emotions, expectations and pitfalls in our path. Some times those pitfalls feel more like land minds! So often these things snowball before we know it and we feel overwhelmed. Oftentimes we even cry out to God in these moments and can feel discouraged that we don’t see Him coming to our aid. My friends this is a lie, God has told us He will never leave us nor forsake us! So how do we find ourselves in this place? It is a subtle and pernicious effort of the enemy. Satan knows if he came and placed scales in our eyes suddenly blocking our sight we would recognize where it came from and would respond. Instead little by little he creates almost a “virtual reality”. He gets us to focus on circumstances and as our vision is lowered to this focus he begins to carefully construct a lie that we accept. He begins to weave a mental dialogue that says God doesn’t care, He has left you, He is displeased with you and on and on it goes. Many times it starts with one circumstance.. a bad day or days at work, issues with a friend, loved one or spouse. Then he adds to it a health issue in you or someone you love, financial struggles, a broken relationship, or the loss of a loved one. Each item locking our eyes on the hardships rather than God. Don’t think I am saying that we will never have trials; in fact it is just the opposite. His word assured us that we will have trouble but it also says that He has overcome that trouble! “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 When we face times where we are not at peace and troubles overwhelm us we need to raise our eyes off our circumstances and to who He is. Jesus overcame all things at the cross. He suffered for us because He loves us and He wanted us to be in relationship with Him. Let’s not allow Satan to paint a lie over the backdrop of our life, creating a vision that isolates us and leaves us feeling abandoned, defeated and hopeless. Let us anchor our reality in the finished work of the cross and in His truth. Let us use the weapons He has given us to speak over these trials and embrace the peace that He gave us.