One of the most destructive lies we believe.

It's been around for a long time.

I’m starting to emerge from a funk. A fog. I’ve been walking around in it for at least a few weeks, arms outstretched like a mummy from a Scooby-Doo cartoon.

Over the last 24 hours, I’ve done what I know to do but what I’ve failed to do: get curious about why I’m feeling the way I’m feeling. Friend, I can’t tell you enough how important it is to get curious. To act like a 3-year-old and ask yourself (and more importantly, God) “why?” until you’ve completely annoyed yourself and gotten to the root.

This morning, I was that 3-year-old. And I think I got to the root—a root I believe you probably struggle with as well.

What emerged—what was revealed and what I realized—is that I had begun once again to believe an old lie. This lie is so destructive. It’s sinister. And it’s easy to believe. In fact, I think it’s one of the oldest around. You can trace its roots back to Eden, to the first lie ever told.

The lie? “If only this one things happens, I’ll be happy.”

It has a sibling, too: “If only I were to get this one thing, then I’d be happy.”

Both come down to this: We believe that something or someone can and will make us happy if we just attain it.

The weight.
The book endorsement from the popular pastor. (🙋‍♂️)
The job.
The boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse.
The next scroll.
The next like.
The food.
The paycheck.
The affirmation.

And yet, here’s the truth: the next thing is never enough. Once you get it, there’s always something else just out of reach. “OK, now if I get that, things will be better.”

You know what I’m talking about, right? You’ve been there? Maybe you are there?

I know I can’t be the only one.

And then we wonder why we’re struggling. Friend, it’s because there is only one thing that was created to occupy the desires of our heart. One person. And when we put other things there, they can’t help but disappoint.

I’m working through Tim Keller’s commentary on the book of Galatians (Galatians for You). Every single chapter is mind-blowing. I read something yesterday that applies here.

“We must worship Christ, with the help of the Holy Spirit, adoring Him until our hearts find Him more beautiful than the object we felt we had to have,” he says. “As we do that, we will put to death our old [sin] nature, clearing room for the fruit of the Spirit to grow; and we will find that fruit growing, chasing us more and more into the people we long to be, and God desires us to be.”

Friend, have you found yourself in a funk lately? Is nothing you’re doing seeming to help you get out of it?¹ I wonder if you’ve let an old lie creep into a room in your heart. The lie that says “if only I get X, then I’ll be happy.”

You won’t. I won’t.

Do battle against that lie. Write out what you’re thankful for. What God has already done. Where he is working currently. If you do, I have a feeling you may be able to unmask the mummy walking around and reveal the lost person underneath.

Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash

1. If you’re new around here, know that I am a big advocate of medication, therapy, exercise, and other remedies to treat your mental health holistically. But sometimes, even when you do all those things, you still find yourself trapped. That’s because where you’re most deficient and where you need to focus is on the spiritual aspect of your mental health.