My Little Green Dragon

I’ve heard it said that a lie will travel half way around the world while the truth is still putting on it’s shoes. And, unfortunately, like many of you who are reading this, I have experienced it or rather felt the sting of it, many times over throughout my life and ministry. I’ve often wondered why people find the lives of others so interesting that they want to be involved in trying to destroy them. I could possibly sit and complain about how much it hurts but when I compare my situation with that of the apostle Paul who was nearly beaten to death and imprisoned, I realize I have absolutely no room to gripe or feel sorry for myself. I can’t imagine standing before God and telling Him all the reasons I decided to give up because someone talked about me or my family. How childish would that be? How sad is it that quitting is often our first thought when we face painful situations beyond our control?

There are so many Scriptures about the tongue and the power that lies in it. It is ABSOLUTELY a two edged sword that has the power to encourage, inspire, and motivate but can also destroy families, tear down the ministry, spiritually murder a new Christian and plant seeds of doubt in nearly every area of one’s life. And there is absolutely nothing we can do about it when it happens. Well, actually there are lots of things we COULD but hopefully WOULDN’T do if we claim to have the Spirit of God living inside of us.

We possess a natural instinct to defend ourselves. We also possess a natural urge to fight back...you know, an eye for an eye. But we can’t. Not always. There are some instances that we have to leave it completely up to God to be our defense.

In the past, my husband and I faced a particular situation that completely devastated us both. We had worked in an area somewhere in the world (which we had been informed by an elder minister who was familiar with the place) known for tearing down the ministry. And of course, we didn’t come out of it unscathed. We were accused of so many things it was ridiculous! You name it...we supposedly did it. All completely untrue and unfounded. It broke our hearts. People whom we had spent years loving and trying to nurture spiritually suddenly turned their backs on us without ever asking if what they had heard was truth or not. Unfortunately, the source of their “bad information” was a tricky one...someone very involved in their lives. So what were we to do? After much prayer, many tears and sleepless nights...we came to the conclusion that all we could do was wait and let God sort it out.

So that’s what we did. And it wasn’t easy. I must say, that this became what I refer to as my “daily dragon”. It was all I could think about. When I woke up in the morning, it was blowing it’s stale, smokey breath in my face. As I went about my daily routine, it was breathing fire down my neck. And if I didn’t manage to slay it at some point in the day, it was there at night to tuck me in and wish me unpleasant dreams...if I were ever to fall asleep at all. Then in the morning...there he was again. Little devil!

I believe we all have some kind of “dragon” to slay in our lives in one area or another. I also believe that God lets them exist in our lives, no matter how unpleasant, to draw us closer to Him and learn to depend on and trust Him more. To help us learn that He is our refuge and strength and no matter what...He has our back.

I don’t, however, believe that He wants us to keep them as pets! They are there to teach us something and then they MUST go....through much intercession, fasting and determination. At least, that’s what it took for me to get MY life back. That and the fact that God had placed me and my husband on the hearts of many precious people who had no idea what we were going through, but felt impressed to pray.

I’m sure God got tired of me asking Him “why” all the time. I may never know exactly why, and He doesn’t owe me an explanation. He is God after all. But I must say, I’ve learned an awful lot from this experience. First of which, is it isn’t always the source of a lie, or the lie itself, that causes the most pain, but who believes it. Second, the truth will always prevail and a liar will be marked as what he/she is. Third, letting God be your defense is the best offense. And lastly, no matter what, I absolutely refuse to believe every negative word I hear about someone else unless I hear it from their own mouth. So, my dear friend, if I hear something questionable about you...don’t worry. It stops here.

Psalms 101:7, "He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight."

In conclusion, I would love to tell you that everyone now knows the truth and everything is back the way it should have stayed...but I can’t. Fairytale endings usually only happen in fairytales. Sure, there are some who never doubted us, others who have since learned the truth...but there are still others who don’t know and probably don’t care one way or the other anymore. There are some things that can’t ever be completely repaired. Lies ALWAYS leave casualties. BUT when I look back at bridges that were burned and fences that remain un-mended, I can only thank God that at least that little green dragon doesn’t control my life anymore. It's been defeated!