Beware the Devil’s deceptive substitutes, especially when you’re hurting, stressed, anxious, or discontent. The enemy lies, promising that we can be saved from our woes through the power of God’s good gifts. Entertainment, food, alcohol, vacation, sleep, shopping, and the like may all be enjoyed as blessings from the Lord, but they make terrible saviors. They are false substitutes that leave us worse off when we run to them, trusting that they will set us free.
We must remember:
Distracting ourselves is not the same thing as being delivered.
Getting lost in another world is not the same thing as being at peace in this one.
Numbing the pain is not the same thing as being healed.
Escaping from reality is not the same thing as being rescued.
Changing our scenery is not the same thing as changing our life.
Filling our stomach is not the same thing as being truly filled.
Buying new stuff is not the same thing as having a new life.
We should seek to enjoy God in His good gifts, while never confusing the two. And we enjoy His blessings best when we receive them not as what will save us, secure us, or satisfy us, but as what are meant to show us more of Him. True freedom cannot come from false substitutes, so don’t entrust your soul’s struggles or sorrows to anything but the Lord of Heaven & Earth who died and rose again to set sinners free.