Tangled: The Lies of the Enemy

Once upon a time, there was a king and queen with a daughter named Rapunzel. A daughter with power. So much power that she was stolen by the enemy, Mother Gothel.

God the Father calls us His sons and daughters. He gives us unheard of amounts of power. Yet we fell (Genesis 3), our souls stolen by Satan.

Mother Gothel kept the child, Rapunzel, locked up in a tower. Forbade her to leave. Yet Rapunzel's destiny lingered. And in her quest to see the lanterns, her quest for her true identity rose to the surface.

Unable to keep the lanterns from flying, Mother Gothel gave her a new reason never to question her imprisonment. Never to go outside. Never to consider a realm beyond the walls that kept her captive. "It's a scary world out there," Mother Gothel told her. "Something will go wrong, I swear. Ruffians, thugs, poison ivy, quicksand, cannibals, and snakes. The plague! Also large bugs, men with pointy teeth..."

Satan would have us believe that our destiny is no bigger than our cozy little lives. And as for our calling, the whisper that stirs our hearts and bids us pursue the great unknown? That is when he bids us be afraid, be very afraid. Think of what could go wrong, think of what may happen. Think of he empty wallets, the broken legs, the mockery! He pounds Murphy's law into our heads until we believe it. Yet fear is not from God (2 Timothy 1:7).

But the lanterns beckoned Rapunzel. The lanterns that beckoned her to her true identity - a royal one. And she could not be persuaded to forget her dream. Mother Gothel just shook her head. "You're 'sloppy, underdressed, immature, clumsy,'" she reminded Rapunzel. "Gullible, naive, positively grubby, ditsy, and a bit, well, vague. Plus, I believe, getting kind of chubby."

Because if the fear argument doesn't work, Satan will find something else. He'll dig deeper. No hit is too cheap. Calling? Please. As if you could have a calling. Have you seen yourself in the mirror lately? And awkward moments follow you wherever you go. You can't possibly consider a destiny, an identity bigger than who you are. You'd never make it. You'd fail. You're a failure at everything else. Those are Satan's words. They are the farthest thing from God's mind (Isaiah 43:4). (It's worth noting here that Rapunzel is none of the things that Mother Gothel says she is. Lies, lies, lies! Satan is the father of lies! (John 8:44))

And last, but certainly not least, what happens when Rapunzel does pursue her true identity? Mother Gothel doesn't give up, of course she doesn't. Instead she uses whatever weapon she can lay hands on. Rapunzel is rapidly falling in love with Flynn Rider, and she tells Mother Gothel, "I think he likes me." With a blush that only comes with first love. And Mother Gothel stoops low: "Likes you? Please, Rapunzel! This whole romance that you've invented just proves you're too naive to be here. Why would he like you? Come on now, really! Look at you: you think that he's impressed?"


For this is the truth that Satan desperately wants you to disbelieve. Not only that you have not been given a spirit of fear, not only that you are beautiful beyond belief (Genesis 1:26), but that you are liked by God. You are liked. The God of the universe likes you. And once you accept its possibility, once you believe it - you are invincible. Which is why Satan will do anything to convince you that it is an impossibility, that you are worthless and undeserving.


But God does like you. It's not enough that He made you, not enough that loves you so much He died. He goes so far as to like you. And that, my friends, is the truth. Close your ears to the lies of the enemy. You are fully capable of fulfilling your destiny, because you are liked by God.