Several years ago someone called a package delivery driver’s wife in Kansas while her husband was on the road. A man in a professional-sounding voice said, “Mrs. Jones, this is Dr. Johnson. I’m sorry to inform you that your husband is in the hospital with a life-threatening, unknown disease and may die. We need a hair sample from you immediately because we believe you may have also contracted this disease.”

The terrible news jolted the poor woman. The man instructed her to get a pair of scissors and cut off all her hair at the roots so the hospital could run some lab tests. She obediently did as she was ordered, cutting off her hair.

After completing the caller’s instructions, she asked what to do next.

The man replied, “The next thing you need to do is wait for your husband to come home. I made up this entire story.” The prankster then hung up.

Satan wants your perception to be based upon deception. This woman acted on what she believed to be true. You act, not necessarily upon what is true but on what you believe to be true. Satan also knows this, so he creates an unreal world through your imaginations. He knows that if he can get you to believe his lies, you’ll react as though they were true.

(Kent Crockett, I Once Was Blind But Now I Squint, Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2004, 130-131)