Simple Truth

 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. ~ John 8:32

What a wonderful truth! I remember how free I felt days after choosing to have a relationship with Jesus. I felt relieved. What did I have to do? What did I have to fear? Nothing! I felt the freedom that comes with being unburdened from penalty, from worry, from decisions I wasn't equipped to make. Whatever happened, I was assured Jesus would handle it. But, I have to be honest, things started happening that appeared to be beyond His control, or maybe He was just too busy to deal with them right then, or worse-- maybe I deserved them for all of my past junk. What was happening and why did I no longer feel free?

Let me first point out, God's word does not tell us the truth will make us feel free. God's word tells us that knowing the truth --with a deep understanding that comes to us through the Holy Spirit-- makes us free, changes our status from slave to freeman. If you are feeling overwhelmed, burdened, in bondage, you have believed a lie. Somehow, somewhere, you are walking in that lie, basing your decisions or your actions on that lie. The truth does not oppress; the truth sets us free. Perhaps you don't believe what God's word says. Perhaps you don't believe you are sinful and condemned to hell outside of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Perhaps you are relying on your own righteousness, pointing out your own good works or trying some new ones, to prove just how free from sin you are. Perhaps you don't believe you are loved enough that Jesus would pay the penalty for your sin and give you His innocence, His righteousness in which to stand before God. Perhaps you don't believe He will never leave you or forsake you. Perhaps you have taken on more than God has required you to do. Perhaps you don't believe that freedom is a free gift of God's grace, that we believe it is ours in Christ Jesus and it is! Whatever lie has got you bound, the truth will set you free. I stopped feeling free because I had been sidetracked, deceived by a lie; but --praise God!-- I had not stopped being free! It is truth that makes us free, and the Truth, Jesus Christ is eternal. In Him we are free eternally, no matter what we feel!

We're humans, finite and foolish. If that wasn't enough, it's hard to live as free people in a world that is still bound, a world ruled by one who desires to keep us weak and bound and deceived, the father of lies. His demons are working hard for him, to throw us off course and send us right back to shackles. But we have to embrace truth, and what better place to find it than in God's word? We read it, we study it, we memorize it. We simply start each day with truth. We obey and embrace the truth. We lift up our prayers and our praise to the One who is Truth. We look for opportunities to share truth with others, understanding they have the right to choose bondage over freedom as we once did. We talk to Jesus throughout the day, asking Him to speak truth to us in each and every situation; we ask Him to speak truth over each thought that enters our minds. We do not follow a lie back into slavery; we believe the truth and we are free!

Are You Sure God Is Good?

How would you describe God? If you listen to Christian radio or attend weekly worship services, there are lots of songs out there that describe Him as Healer, Waymaker, Promisekeeper, Refuge, Fire, Provider. The Book of Psalms records song after song of all that God has done and will do. And if you've been around the church for any length of time, chances are you know the words to many of those songs or have one or two of those psalms memorized. But, when your spouse is in an accident that leaves her brain damaged to the point she is not the woman you married, or your children have turned their back on God and if you don't stop talking about Him, they'll turn their back on you as well; when the bills just won't let up but the troubles just keep on coming, can you hold fast? Can you declare with certainty God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and He is good!? 

If your answer is "no," I'm gonna give it to you straight: it doesn't matter what you think. The truth of the matter is --and I'm gonna say that again-- the truth of the matter is, God has never been anything but good. Goodness is an attribute of His character, and He cannot betray His character; He cannot contradict Himself. God's word reveals His character, and His word is truth. So, if His word says He is the Healer, He is. If His word says He is a Promisekeeper, He is. If His word says He is the Waymaker, He is. If His word says He is a trustworthy Refuge, He is. If His word says He is a consuming Fire, He is. If His word says He is Jehovah Jireh, our Provider, He is! 

But, being human myself, I sometimes need an answer to the "yes buts," you know those things that usually tumble from our lips in the form of a whine just after someone speaks the truth and we don't like it. It goes like this:

"God is for you, not against you."

"Yes, but I lost my job again, my husband is still sick, my son is not doing well in school, and my car won't pass inspection without major work."

I've been there, and it's hard to imagine your Father who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, who created and sustains all things, whose way is perfect, not shelling out some cash or a little bit of healing for one of His children --especially a child so faithful, right? What kind of Father doesn't give His kid a helping hand? At least, cut them a break! I've said it. I've even gone so far as to think God was some ill-spirited, lying sadist, sitting up above, taking out all His evil designs on saps like me; collecting and keeping all the spoils for Himself while watching us suffer. But here's what God showed me:

#1. There are no spoils for Him to collect. They all belong to Him anyway, and it is infantile and arrogant to think we own or will gain from this world anything He could possibly need or want.

#2. I have children. More than once, I have thrown myself on my sword for one of them. More than once, I haven't. There have been specific instances in which I needed to be lavish in my giving of assistance. There have been specific instances in which it benefited them to get the bigger picture and walk through something really unpleasant. Not once have I refused any one of my children help because I wanted their LEGOS for myself, or I thrived on being particularly mean, or I didn't love them. They may have cried in frustration, slammed the door to their room, talked trash about me, packed their bags, even stopped speaking to me; I never withheld my help out of anything but love. But I did withhold help as they imagined they needed it.

#3. We have a choice: believe it all or reject it all. We can't believe Jesus died for us, or God created the heaven and the earth, or that there even is a heaven without believing it all, every word from Genesis to Revelation. We can't define God as we choose: good or bad; we have to define Him as truth says He is. We simply do not have all the facts. No matter what our situation looks like right now, if we believe the truth, things will look better with God's hand in His time.

So I encourage you, as tough as it is, stand fast, hold tightly to the truth of His word-- declare it, say it out loud to yourself at every opportunity-- and your faith will grow. You will know the truth and you will know the God who is good no matter what!

(Photo courtesy LuAnn Matin)

Do You Know Where to Look?

When I was a kid I loved Highlights magazine. Sitting in the doctor's office pouring over the Hidden Pictures pages. There, in the midst of the forest was a baseball bat, an ice cream cone, a pipe, and a rocket ship. As I've gotten older, I've noticed the drawing has gotten much less professional or I've simply gotten more adept at finding the comb in blades of grass. Go, me! It's easy to find the stuff when you know where to look. But what happens when things aren't where they're supposed to be?

You see, I've been divorced --twice. Had cancer and regularly battle autoimmune junk. I've had my share of severed relationships, even with my own children. I've been so broke that dinner was a piece of bread with a couple spoonfuls of pickle relish. I've had to give up money, property, and my rights to being right just to keep my sanity. I've been physically and sexually abused. I've lost people that were so near and dear to me I believed that loss would be my breaking point. I don't even own a vehicle. I care for my mother who-- THANK GOD!-- can still walk and feed herself; everything else is on me. I've wanted to be "a famous author" since I was twelve --I write but I'm certainly not famous, and I've not made enough for a month's rent at the Dew Drop Inn, much less the thirty-acre cabin in the woods of which I dreamed. My one shot at an overseas vacation was derailed by COVID. 

However... There's been God. Always. 

Based on what I've just described, it might be easier to find the hat in a tree stump than find God in my life. And there were a lot of years He wasn't invited. But even when I pretended He wasn't there, even when I clearly didn't want Him there, He was waiting to be seen. 

My first divorce taught me I never want to be that terrible to any living soul ever again. The second taught me I should have listened to God --the real God-- instead of inventing my own. Sickness is part of being alive in this post-Eden world. My relationships are still a work in progress (aren't they all?) but now God holds my hand as we walk through them together. Broke is broke: being without money is like being without a lawnmower -- it's just a tool. Same thing with giving up stuff -- sanity is the endgame; besides, none of it belongs to me. The abuse is part of my story --always will be, but God says it's not the final chapter. Loss has not been a breaking point, but a turning point: I'm not the first one to grieve, but experiencing it equips me to pray for others who experience it, too. I've lost twenty-five pounds and gotten into killer shape just by walking more! Caring for Mom has been a summons to draw closer to Jesus, to seek Him all day throughout the day, and to watch Him reveal His plan in all of this. My dream hasn't died until I have. My overseas vacation was exchanged for the "nightmare on ice" which I haven't been able to explain --yet. (But I've got a pretty great story to tell!) 

In all these things, God has been with me, working, turning them around for my good. To have a front row seat to what He is doing is a privilege. He has been there in the quiet that follows the word "cancer", in the fear of starting over --alone, in the empty cupboard and in the courtroom and along the white hot sidewalk on the way to the deli. He is still there, weeping in the room where evil is done and childhoods are ended. He is in the hard days and the whys?. He is there, right where He is supposed to be.

I Thank My God When I Remember You

If you've existed on this big blue marble for longer than a minute or two, you've probably run into a special person. Whether it was that selfless woman who for months giggled excitedly at every move she felt you make, or the tender hero who gently cleaned you and warmed you moments after your startling relocation. Maybe you were blessed to be raised among a group of special people, people who loved and supported you all throughout your growing years, despite your tendency to sleep too late on weekends and use the last of the milk without adding it to the shopping list. Maybe you were blessed to find those folks outside the four walls of your home; maybe they were folks who, for no apparent reason, simply took a liking to you and wanted to be a part of your becoming the best human being you could be. Perhaps it's been those and many more throughout your lifetime. This world is full of siren songs tempting us to grow bitter and ungrateful, but if we take a moment to look past the surface dirt to the core of what brings us joy and hope and teaches us to love, we will find treasure in jars of clay.

I can't say if or how I have impacted the lives of those around me --I'm not sure any of us really knows the depth of our purpose while we're still actually trying to walk it out-- but I know there are people who have shown me tremendous kindnesses and those who have been used by God to demonstrate His love for me. There was the neighbor who prepared dinner for my family and I after my daughter was born. That single act of care still speaks to me the language of love. Years later, she came to my home at 2AM five days a week and watched my children while I worked. The selflessness of God was made manifest to me through her again and again.

The coworker who, despite working full-time, being the greatest granny that ever walked the face of the earth, and putting up with my husband's special kind of crazy, made it her mission to give those she loved whatever she could afford. Despite her own failing health, I watched this woman devise and construct a multitude of "helps" to assist her husband in navigating life despite a condition that was robbing him of mobility daily. Despite her demands to be left alone, she crafted favors for parties (for which she did not wish to be compensated, nor to which she was invited) just to do something nice for someone. Despite her rock hard exterior, she'd spend her last dime on a gift of beauty and song to encourage my husband and I to never forget her. (As though we ever could.) A more beautiful picture of Jesus will never grace the walls of any cathedral.

The character of God can be found in this world and its inhabitants if we are simply willing to look and to understand what it is we are seeing. I heard two old men at the market the other day, both with different perspectives. One bemoaned the state of things as they are today. The other simply reassured him, "There's plenty of good out there --just that the good stuff never makes the news. Stop watchin' the news and tell me what you see." And he's absolutely right. When we see "the good stuff," we have to be aware we are witnessing one of the very attributes of God. Focusing on that goodness (or the Godlike-ness) in others can be the beginning of worship. Finding the light in the darkness can be the beginning of discovering light's very Origin. Being grateful for those who share this place with us can be the beginning of a relationship with the One who deserves our thanks.

(Photo courtesy of LuAnn Martin)