what could a little lie hurt?

I wanted to write about something, and hope that it is of help. I want to write about lying, but I don´t want to just say that it´s a sin, and that is all. I think a lot of times we lie, because we underestimate God or simply do not trust that He will come through for us. Or we lie to gain the approval of others. I have done all those things. But God has also taught me a lot. There have been times that I told the truth when it meant that it might cost me a lot. But there have also been times when I let God down, and caved in under the pressure, and lied. I think that God allows satan to test us to see if we will tell the truth. And I think that satan tells us lies to scare us, and sets us up, and then the time comes when we have to tell the truth or lie, and the decision is ours. satan can only lie to and try to scare Christians, he cannot actually make them sin. The Bible says that God gives us a way to escape all temptations.
I think satan likes to tell us things like ¨its such a small lie (or exaggeration), it doesn´t really matter¨, or will get us to justify it in other ways.
In the Bible, after Jesus was arrested, one of his disciples, Peter, had went unnoticed to where Jesus was, and was waiting to see what would happen to Jesus. But some people noticed that Peter was a follower of Jesus, and when they asked him, he said ¨No, I do not know Jesus¨. When the pressure was on, Peter lied. I am sure all sorts of things were going through Peters mind. He had just seen Jesus get arrested, and possibly seen Him get beaten. Jesus Himself had told his disciples that He would be killed. I imagine that Peter was worried about being arrested, and possibly also being beaten or killed. And also Peter made the decision to lie, and not once, but 3 times. And Jesus was in eyesight of Peter, because when Peter lied for the third time, it says that Jesus looked straight at Him. And then Peter felt horrible.
You might say, ¨well that is different, Peter was denying Christ, and that is worst than any lie¨. But I think when the pressure was on, and Peter had to make the choice between telling the truth and lying, I don´t think he realized that the lie would actually be denying Christ. Peter was trying to protect himself, and did not realize the magnitude of what He was doing. And after he had lied 3 times, he realized what He had done, and he felt horrible.
What I want to say is that I don´t think we realize the consequences that can come from even what we consider a small lie. And in Gods eyes, I don´t know if a ¨small¨ lie even exists. I imagine that no lies are small to God. Peter lied, and realized that what he had done was a huge mistake, and regretted it very much. But how many times do we lie, and then never regret it?
The reason I am writing about this is I think that lying can cause us to miss out on a lot of things. When we are faced with a decision to tell the entire truth, or to tell part truth/part lie, or to completely lie, I think a person needs to have their faith in God, because then they know they can tell the truth, and that God is in control, and the outcome will be in Gods hands.
I will use an example from my own life. Although I have lied more times than I can count, here is a time that I did not give in to satans lies and temptation. When I was in Iowa before our wedding, there was lots of stuff to do to get ready to come to Peru, including getting some documents ready. Something that was always in the back of my mind was ¨maybe I need a special document or visa to be able to enter Peru to get married¨. I know in the United States that a foreigner cannot enter the United States on a visitors visa to get married. So I thought the same might be in Peru. And so I tried to read about it on the internet, and didn´t find anything. I emailed a Peru consulate in the United States, but got no reply. So I never got an answer to my question, and I think that is what God wanted. On the plane to Peru, we have to fill out paperwork to have ready for the Peru immigrations. And one of the questions is ¨why do you want to enter Peru¨. The truth is that my fiance is in Peru, and we are getting married, and we wish to then live in Peru together. But the visa that I am entering the country with is a tourist visa, and to me it doesn´t seem like marriage and living in Peru falls under the category ¨tourist¨. Anyways, I had a choice to make. I could either be honest and write ¨marriage¨, or lie and write something else. All sorts of things went through my mind. I pictured myself in front of the immigrations office, and what would he do when he finds out that I want to get married on a tourist visa? I thought about Eliana waiting at the airport, and wishing so much to see me, but I am detained by immigrations until I am eventually sent back to the United States, and how hard that would be on Eliana and I. All that might sound strange, but those were my fears, and it was very real to me. I had to make a choice to take things into my own hands, and sin, and in my own mind I would then have a better chance of getting through immigrations to Eliana. Or I could write ¨marriage¨, and put everything in Gods hands, and know that He is in control. And that is what I did, I wrote ¨marriage¨ in the line. And while standing in line for immigrations, I was really nervous, but you know what happened? The immigrations officer asked no questions, but stamped my visa, and sent me through. It turned out that I never needed a special document or visa, and that I could get married on a tourist visa.
All the times I have lied, those were opportunities that God gave me, but I failed. Those were opportunities to trust God, but I chose to take things into my own hands. But this time was different, and I did not give in to the temptation, even when the stakes were so high. God does not allow us to be tempted with more that we can handle. God gives us a way out of all temptations. And my way out of this tempation was to write ¨marriage¨, and let God have control. And because I trusted God, my faith became greater, because I saw how God helped me. God is trustworthy. Although He may allow us to go through difficult situations, He will not forsake us. Although we may see no trace of Him, He is there, and in control.

p.s. Jesus Christ was obedient even to the cross. He knew that God wanted him to die for peoples sin, and so Jesus went willingly to the cross to be executed. I wonder how many times satan whispered in his ear ¨you know, you don´t have to do this¨. Jesus Christ experienced temptation, and I imagine so much more than we will ever experience. But Jesus always stood strong in the face of temptation, and never sinned. People made fun of Jesus because He said He was the Son of God, but when He was hanging on the cross, He did not use His power to bring Himself down. Jesus said that there were armies of Angels ready to fight for Him. I think that when the Angels saw the King of Kings crucified on a cross, they were dressed for battle. But Jesus never gave the order to fight. If Jesus had not died on the cross, we could not be forgiven, because our punishment would not have been taken. But Jesus died on the cross. He was obedient all the way to the end, and accomplished what He came to accomplish.