How do you overcome doubts? How do you replace the lies of the enemy with the truth of God’s word?

Imagine this scenario. You’re a little girl and your parents took you to the swimming pool. You decided you wanted to try out the highest high dive for the first time. You get in line, and you wait your turn.

Then you climb the ladder. It’s a really long ladder, and it seems to take forever to get to the top. You’ve finally reached the top of the ladder and you’re standing on the diving board, looking down. It’s a long way down. It’s really high up.

You’re suddenly feeling apprehensive. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. You turn to go back down the ladder, but there is already a long line of kids behind you. There’s no going back.

Your mom stands at the side of the pool, cheering you on. The kids behind you are urging you to go ahead and jump already.

You step to the edge of the dive. It’s really wobbly and bouncy, and your knees start to knock together. Is that even water down there? What if it turned to ice while you weren’t watching? What if the pool suddenly dries up mid-jump, and you smash into the concrete. All sorts of ridiculous ideas are going through your head.

But you know in your heart that there’s nothing to do, but JUMP. 

Have any of you ever been in that situation?  Well, that is how I’m feeling right now. And I really need your prayers!

In the last episode, I told you all about my new devotional book for boys, Rise of the Enemy, Book One in the Dragon Slayer Bible Series, which is launching on Kickstarter this week, on May 11th.

I’ve put in the work of climbing to the top of this super high diving board. And it feels kinda scary up here right now!  But I know I can’t go back. 

And I’ve been bombarded with ridiculous fears like… what if there’s no water in the pool when I jump off? 

I would really appreciate your prayers this week. 

This book project will not be successful apart from God’s work and his grace. Through God’s strength and guidance, I have put in the hard work of climbing the ladder and creating this book, but the reality is, nothing will happen apart from God. 

Will you pray with me that God’s purpose would be accomplished and that he would receive all the glory from this project? 

It’s not easy being vulnerable and taking a big risk in front of thousands of people (haha, that’s you!). I am confident that God has led me to this point and that he has given me strength to fight through difficult obstacles along the way, but I don’t know what the final outcome will be! I don’t know if the water in the pool will suddenly dry up when I jump, or if maybe there was no water in the pool in the first place!

When I first started working on this book, back in January of 2020, I remember thinking… “Hmmm, I’m writing a book for boys about spiritual warfare. I don’t think Satan is going like this.”  And there have definitely been many struggles and hurtles to overcome along the way.

Even just this week, I’ve been fighting off lies and doubts from the Enemy:  “What if you fail? What if no one cares about this book? What if everyone judges you? What if this wasn’t really what God wanted you to do?”  

And on and on. Can you relate? Have you ever pursued a project or a ministry that you believed God was calling you to do, and then suddenly you were filled with doubts? I’m sure you have. It’s just human nature. And it’s also the Enemy at work, trying to discourage us from completing the work God has given us to do. 

What do you do in those situations? How do you overcome doubts?  For me, whenever I’m feeling bombarded by doubts and the lies of the devil, I make a chart. Haha, maybe not a normal thing to do, I know. You’re probably thinking I’m one of those people who likes to clean when I get stressed out.  And you would be wrong. I cannot imagine any scenario in which I would like to clean. But anyway… back to my chart…

On one side, I write out the lies I’m believing. Things like: You’re going to fail. Nobody cares about you. Nobody wants to read your book. Etc.  

And then on the other side, I write out what I know to be the truth, based on the Word of God. If possible, I try to come up with specific verses to counteract each particular lie.  Here is the truth statement I wrote in my journal just this morning: 

“My worth does not come from what others think about me, how many people support me, or how successful my book is.  My worth and value come from Christ alone.  His opinion is the only one that truly matters. Approval and success are not indicators of whether or not I am following God’s will or his leading in my life. God is in control of the success or failure of this project. This is HIS work, and I’m only a tool he’s using to accomplish his purposes.“

And then I looked up several Bible passages to remind me of God’s goodness and faithfulness, regardless of the outcome. 

Psalm 31

“But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, “You are my God!”  My future is in your hands… don’t let me be disgraced, O Lord, for I call out to you for help… So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord.” 

Psalm 34

“I will boast only in the Lord… “

Psalm 142

“You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life.” 

Ephesians 2:10

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

I Corinthians 15:58 

“So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.”

I know as moms, we don’t regularly see the outcome of our work for the Lord. Day in and day out, raising boys can be exhausting. We don’t always see immediate results from our investment into the lives of our children. We fall victim to the lies of the Enemy who tries to convince you that nobody sees you, nobody cares about the work you’re doing, your kids are all going to end up in prison. Sometimes it’s hard to overcome doubts.

But let me remind you, momma, that your work for the Lord is never wasted. God is using you in the lives of your kids and he has good work planned for you and for your kids as well.

So what lies are you believing today? What truth can you replace it with?  

I have actually included this exercise of replacing lies with truth in one of the daily devotionals in my book, Rise of the Enemy. The book (and the whole series, really) is all about training our boys for battle and equipping them to identify and combat the lies of the evil dragon. 

Let me just say something about other people’s opinions… I know as moms we often fall into the trap of worrying too much about the opinions of others. We wonder if so-and-so thinks we’re a good parent and then we make choices based on those worries. I think in general, it’s not a good practice to put so much weight on what others think of us.  

But on the other hand, God created us to live in community, in relationship with others, and so it’s only natural to care about the opinions of others. 

I tried to convince myself that it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks about me or my book. But the reality is, only narcissistic psychopaths truly don’t care what anyone else thinks. And I’m not a narcissistic psychopath. I do care. Because I’m not just writing this book series for myself.

I care about the spiritual condition of the hearts of our boys. I want this book to be an inspiration and a blessing and a challenge to boys. I want them to gain a deeper understanding of God and a love for his Word. I want our boys to join the armies of the Dragon Slayer and learn to wield weapons of warfare against the evil dragon.

And so I cannot help but care what others think about this book project, because I want to write the kinds of books that your boys will love to read.

But I need your help. Will you join me in praying for this project? Will you join me in fighting off the lies of the evil dragon? Will you pray that this book would get into the hands of as many young men as possible, so that they would be challenged to love deeply, fight bravely, and live courageously? 

Also, I would love for each of you to think of TWO moms of boys that you could share a link to the Kickstarter page with. I need your help to spread the word! You can share THIS LINK.

Friends, I can’t do this without you and your prayer support!  I appreciate each one of you and I am so thankful you’ve chosen to come along with me on this journey of raising courageous boys.  

You can learn more about the my Kickstarter campaign for Dragon Slayer Bible Series HERE.

And just a reminder, the campaign goes live in just TWO DAYS on May 11th!  Mark your calendars!

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