Do you know what a mirage is? It’s something that appears real, but in actuality, it’s not. The Enemy, the Devil, uses fear and lies that appear real as tactics to keep us from moving forward into our divine purpose. God wants us, with His help, to recognize those lies and have the courage to step past them, so we can walk into the amazing plan God has marked out for us.
Roughly 12 years ago, I had a very vivid dream that I was walking down a path, which represented the journey of my life. In the dream, there was a monster standing between me and my destiny. Every time I tried walking towards the evil creature, it would make an intimidating face, causing fear to overcome me. This, of course, kept me from moving forward down the path toward my God-given purpose. Several times this happened to me with the same result – I sat on the side of the road stuck in a cloud of fear! All of a sudden, a thought popped into my head, This monster isn’t real. Mustering up enough courage, I took a stick and swiped at the enemy obstructing the road, and to my amazement, it went straight through it. In other words, it wasn’t there at all. It was simply a mirage! Next, I decided to take another risk. I was going to walk right through the monster. You heard that right, walk straight through the monster! As I approached the enemy again, it made the ugliest, scariest face I had seen up until that point. It tried to intimidate me and get me to turn back. But with great courage, I just kept walking and saying to myself, I believe. I believe. I believe. The monster could do nothing to me! It was only a mirage. So in my dream, I walked on past it and fulfilled my purpose and assignment from God. Then I woke up.
Through prayer and seeking God, I discerned that the monster in my dream represented fear. It wasn’t real, even though it felt and appeared real. God was warning me that there would be times in my life where the Enemy was going to use fear tactics to try to keep me sidelined and ineffective. But if I trusted God by faith, He would give me the courage to walk through the mirage of fear and lies to accomplish God’s incredible plan for me.
One of the main strategies the Enemy uses to keep us ineffective and stuck on the side of the road as followers of Christ is to plant fear and lies in our minds that aren’t true. These fears can keep us immobilized from ever stepping out and trusting God. We know we should move forward, but the Enemy puts on a big front that looks intimidating and very real. We think to ourselves, There’s no way I can overcome or get through this trial. Instead of taking risk and walking into our destiny, we are stuck full of fear and doubt.
The Israelites did the same thing on their way to the land God promised to give them. God sent 12 spies into the land of Canaan and they each brought back a report. Two of the spies were very optimistic, but 10 of them brought back a negative report. This is what the majority of them said,
“We are not able to go up against the people of Canaan, for they are stronger than we are. So they brought the Israelites an evil report of the land which they had scouted out, saying, ‘The land through which we went to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the Nephilim [or giants], the sons of Anak, who come from the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight’” (Numbers 13:31-33 AMP).
The Israelites saw themselves as grasshoppers in the sight of their enemies. They failed to realize that the God of the Universe was with them and had just defeated the most powerful nation in the world at that time – the Egyptians. They forgot that God had parted the Red Sea and He was with them to succeed with His plan and purpose for their lives! Instead of seeing with eyes of faith, they let fear and the lies of the Enemy overtake them. In fact, all the Israelites that were 20 years old or older were never allowed to enter the land God desperately wanted to give them. That is except Joshua and Caleb – the two scouts that came back with a positive report!
When the entire older generation had died out, God was ready to take the younger people into the Promise Land. The nations that currently occupied it were actually terrified of the Israelites. The Bible records in Joshua 2:9-11,
“And she (Rahab) said to the men, ‘I know that the Lord has given you the land and that your terror is fallen upon us and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the [east] side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. When we heard it, our hearts melted, neither did spirit or courage remain any more in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.’”
Wow, the people who were currently inhabiting the land were terrified of God’s people because they knew that the Living God fought for them! Yet, the Israelites let fear and lies consume them so that they refused to trust God and receive the good land He so desperately wanted to give them!
The dream that God gave me all those years ago has been instrumental in helping me step into my own purpose. I remember when I first started working for Destiny Rescue overseas in Asia as their Senior Writer. I was about to make my last leg of the trip from Bangkok to Chiang Rai, Thailand, where I would be living and working. I had to spend the night in Bangkok before flying out the next morning to Chiang Rai. As I was getting ready for bed, I was overcome with fear and lies in my mind. The Enemy kept whispering in my ears, You can’t write; you don’t even have a degree in writing or journalism. You might as well pack your bags and go home. The team won’t like you. You are going to fail, so you might as well just go home now and save everyone a lot of trouble. These lies were relentless. Fear gripped me. But deep on the inside, I heard God speak to me in a gentle voice, “Cory, be strong and courageous. Haven’t I commanded you to be strong and courageous?! I’ve equipped you for this assignment!”. The Holy Spirit also brought to remembrance the dream I had had about stepping through the monster of fear. That’s what I chose to believe. I stopped listening to the lies and replaced them with the truth of what God was saying to me! I then stepped out with great boldness and courage despite the way I felt. I did it afraid! Today, I still work with Destiny Rescue as a spokesperson and have other various roles, too, and as an amazing international organization, we have rescued over 6,500 individuals from sexual exploitation and human trafficking since I started working for them. Looking back, I stand amazed at God’s goodness! By trusting in Him and having the courage to keep moving forward despite the mirage of fear I was experiencing, God has helped me step into more of His divine plan for my life and it has been enormously rewarding and fruitful.
Just like in my situation, don’t let lies creep in and keep you from experiencing God’s very best. Take steps of faith regardless of how you feel. Believe God at His word and trust His leadership in your life by faith. Then watch Him cause you to step into all the good things He has in store for you! If you have been on the side of the road for a while, I want to encourage you to get back in the game and start taking steps forward with God again! His mercies are new every morning and He can even use your past failures for great good! The key is to trust God and keep walking by faith, not by sight! Could it be the obstacle between you and your God-given destiny is only a mirage? Step past it today!
