WHEN GOD LOOKS LIKE A LIAR

BY PASTOR T. O. BANSO

“God is not a man, that he should lie. He is not a human, that he should change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?” (Num 23:19 NLT)

“And he who is the Glory of Israel will not lie, nor will he change his mind, for he is not human that he should change his mind!” (1 Sam 15:29, NLT)

“I have sworn an oath to David, and in my holiness I cannot lie” (Psalm 89:35 NLT). Jer 33:20-21 also refers to this covenant.

“This truth gives them the confidence of eternal life, which God promised them before the world began — and he cannot lie” (Tit 1:2-3 NLT).

“So God has given us both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to his promise with confidence” (Heb 6:18 NLT).

The Bible tells us in different scriptures not only that God does not lie but that God cannot lie. Lying is not in God’s nature. Lying is the native language of satan. “There is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44 NLT).

God means what He says and says what He means. “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (2 Cor 1:20 KJV). God says the Word that He sends will always produce fruit. “It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it” (Isa 55:11 NLT).  God’s Word does not return void without carrying out His will; it will succeed in what it is sent to do.

As reassuring as these scriptures are, there are, however, times in our lives when God looks like a liar. We believe the Word of God and His promises in our hearts but sometimes our heads doubt God and His promises. Will God do what He has promised in His Word? Will He still do what He has spoken by His Spirit? By our estimation, time is running out and we’re yet to experience the fulfillment of His promises. Our experience is contrary to the promises of God. Can God really be true? We know Rom 3:4 says let God be true and every man a liar but sometimes we begin to think perhaps our case is an exception to the scriptures on the integrity of God and immutability of His Word.

God looks like a liar when you’ve waited for long in the ‘waiting room’ of God for His promises to be fulfilled and you’re yet to see His manifestation. Rather you’ve seen others who came after you to the ‘waiting room’ being called in and their requests granted. Those who married after you, graduated after you, started work after you, etc. have been sharing testimonies of answered prayers while you’re still in the ‘waiting room.’ God looks like a liar when your experience contradicts the Word of God despite the fact that you live your life in accordance with the Word of God. Your situation is suggesting to you that God is a liar! But this allegation is a lie. Don’t call God a liar. “All who believe in the Son of God know that this is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son” (1 John 5:10 NLT).

Jeremiah’s Trials

It is not right to call God a liar but as humans, circumstances we go through tend to whisper this lie to us, and we begin to meditate upon it. And whatever you meditate upon will eventually be magnified! Meditation on your negative circumstances leads you to doubt the integrity of God and the immutability of His Word.

Jeremiah was in such a situation persecuted by his people and suffering not for committing any sin but for fulfilling his ministry as a prophet of God. In Jer 15:10, he expressed his frustration:  “…what sadness is mine, my mother, oh, that I had died at birth. For I am hated everywhere I go” (TLB). In verse 15, he cried, “O Lord, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors, take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke” (KJV).

Jeremiah was a true prophet of God yet he went through these trials. Being human, he began to accuse God: “Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? Wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?” (Jer 15:18 KJV) Jeremiah was under serious pressure when he said this. He asked if God was lying to him. The Living Bible renders that verse thus: “Yet you have failed me in my time of need! You have let them keep right on with all their persecutions. Will they never stop hurting me? Your help is uncertain as a seasonal mountain brook – sometimes a flood, sometimes as dry as a bone.”  Have you ever felt like God has failed you or His promises are not true? Jeremiah described God’s help as uncertain. Have you ever felt like God is undependable or He’ll disappoint you?

Jeremiah didn’t find ministry easy though he was in the will of God. The man of God was rejected and afflicted. He was even imprisoned (Jer 37:15, 18). In fact, Jeremiah complained to God: “O Lord, you misled me and I allowed myself to be misled. You are stronger than I am and you overpowered me. Now I am mocked everyday, everyone laughs at me” (Jer 20:7 NLT). The KJV says, “O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.”

Jeremiah’s heart was with God but his head was complaining about his suffering. You can read his complaints in verses 8-13 of Jer 20. In verses 14-18, you will see his frustration: “Yet I curse the day I was born! May the day of my birth not be blessed.  I curse the messenger who told my father, ‘Good news — you have a son!’ Let him be destroyed like the cities of old that the LORD overthrew without mercy. Terrify him all day long with battle shouts, for he did not kill me at birth. Oh, that I had died in my mother’s womb, that her body had been my grave! Why was I ever born? My entire life has been filled with trouble, sorrow, and shame” (NLT).

Jeremiah was as frustrated as Job was in Job 3:3-6: “Cursed be the day of my birth, and cursed be the night when I was conceived. Let that day be turned to darkness. Let it be lost even to God on high, and let it be shrouded in darkness. Yes, let the darkness and utter gloom claim it for its own. Let a black cloud overshadow it, and let the darkness terrify it. Let that night be blotted off the calendar, never again to be counted among the days of the year, never again to appear among the months” (NLT).  Indeed, Jeremiah’s case could be described as a case of “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” (Matt 26:41; Mark 14:38).

God is not a liar

Whenever you find yourself crying for God’s deliverance and God seems not to be near, when your experience seems to contradict the Word of God, when the fulfillment of God’s promises appears not to be forthcoming in your life, remember those scriptures that tell you that God is not a liar and confess them. And I’m not talking about mere consolation here. You can be sure God will do what He says. Delay is not denial.

Psalm 18:30 says, “All the LORD’s promises prove true” (NLT). Psalm 12:6 says, “The LORD’s promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over” (NLT). You may not understand the “why” of your situation but don’t doubt God; do not doubt the promises of God. Have faith in God (Mark 11:22). Don’t cast away your confidence in God and in His Word (Heb 10:35).

Don’t waver at the promises of God though their fulfillment is delayed. God told Habakkuk, “But those things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely the time approaches, when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient. They will not be overdue a single day!” (Hab 2:3 TLB)

Don’t see God as a liar. He cannot lie, but His ways are not your ways. “‘My thoughts are completely different from yours,’ says the LORD. ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine’” (Isa 55:8 NLT). Your time is not His time. For everything, there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven (Ecc 3:1). You can only pray that the fulfillment of God’s promises and answers to your prayers will not be delayed but your prayer will never deliver a fulfillment before God’s appointed time.

Don’t kindle your own light

You need faith and patience to inherit the promises (Heb 6:12).  Abraham held on to God’s Word for twenty-five years though along the way faltered and produced a child who is still a problem to humanity today. However, Abraham got back on course and that’s why the Bible says He believed God; he hoped against hope and God eventually fulfilled His promise to him (Rom 4:17-22). But Abraham’s mistake mocked his miracle! (Gen 21:9) Be careful to wait for your miracle; don’t result to self-help. It doesn’t help ultimately.

When you’re living according to God’s Word but all you see around you is darkness, like the case of Jeremiah, don’t kindle your own light; don’t surround yourself with sparks. Wait for God’s light. “Whoever walks in darkness and has no light shining for him, let him trust in the name of Yahweh, let him lean on his God” (Isa 50:10 Jerusalem Bible). Sorrow awaits those who live in their own light and warm themselves from their own fires and not God’s fire.

God is true and not a liar. He is not a liar – that’s a lie of the devil. Don’t doubt the Word of God like the serpent made Eve do in the garden (Gen 3:1-6).

Jeremiah, under frustration, asked if God would be unto him a liar. He asked if God would disappoint him, give him a false hope. Hear how God answered and rebuked Jeremiah: “Therefore, thus says the Lord [to Jeremiah], if you return [give up this mistaken tone of distrust and despair] then I will give you again a settled place of quiet and safety, and you shall be My minister;  and if you separate the precious from vile [cleansing your own heart from unworthy suspicions concerning God’s faithfulness], you shall be as My mouthpiece” (Jer 15:19 Amp). God told Jeremiah to return to Him and give up his mistaken tone of distrust and despair.  God told Jeremiah to cleanse his heart from unworthy suspicions concerning His faithfulness. God is saying the same to you.

It shall come to pass!

It may not be easy waiting for long in the ‘waiting room’ of God but don’t despair. Don’t give up on God. Don’t distrust God. Entertain no suspicion about God’s faithfulness. Hold on to His promises. “Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act” (Psalm 37:7 NLT). Wait upon the Lord (Psalm 27:14). Isa 49:23 says those who wait for God shall not be ashamed. If what you’ve received and believed is the Word of God, it shall not fall to the ground no matter what. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matt 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33 NKJV).  Keep receiving the Word; keep reading the Word; keep believing the Word and keep confessing the Word. My prayer is that this season, God will remember you and you’ll experience your miracle in Jesus’ name.  It shall come to pass!

TAKE ACTION!

If you’ve not yet given your life to Jesus and you’ll like to do so, you need to take the following steps:*Admit you’re a sinner and you can’t save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start to attend a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church. There, you will be taught how to grow in the Lord and how to discover and fulfill God’s purpose for your life.

Kindly say this prayer now: “0 Lord God, I come unto you today. I know I’m a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and resurrected the third day. I confess Jesus as   my Lord and Saviour and surrender my life to him today. I invite Jesus into my heart today. By this prayer, I know I’m saved. Thank you Jesus for saving me and making me a child of God.”

I congratulate you if you’ve said that prayer sincerely. You are now a child of God. May the Lord make you a Cedar Christian. May you grow into Christ in all things becoming all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you.

T.O. Banso is the President, Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org