Archive for March, 2020

Do You Lie to Yourself?

Posted in Truth on March 19, 2020| 1 Comment »

We talk to ourselves all day long. Some things we say are true and some are lies.

When I was a child, I told myself I needed to be taller to be important. That was a lie. Instead, I needed to tell myself the truth that I was important even though I was the shortest kid in the class. Because I believed this lie, I struggled with self-esteem through much of my early years.

As an adult, I told myself I could do any job. But that was a lie. I boldly applied for many jobs just because they were promotions. I told myself once I got the promotion, I would be able to figure out how to do the job. But that didn’t happen. There were a few jobs I just couldn’t do – and I had to endure much pain and humiliation in discovering this.

In recent years, I have told myself I was immortal. But that was a lie too. I’m not. It took a life-threatening physical condition for me to face the truth I was going to die someday. This lie had kept me clinging to life too much and hindered my hope of living in a future life that is far better than this one.

So, why do we lie to ourselves?

Sometimes the lie may feel better. “You can do any job you set out to do.” Feels good, doesn’t it? But is it true? No, it isn’t. But God says we can do any job he leads us to do if we depend on him (Philippians 4:13). May we tell ourselves the truth when we are contemplating a new job and avoid the pitfalls of a bad decision.

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What Do You Trust?

Posted in Idols, tagged on March 3, 2020| Leave a Comment »

I had a lot of questions after reading the exam reports from the hospital. Some of the findings were downright scary. I had checked into the Emergency Room a few days earlier because of feeling a tightness in my chest and wanted to make sure I wasn’t having a heart attack or aneurysm.

But after all the tests, they didn’t think there was anything seriously wrong.

Now, I was headed to my doctor’s office for his interpretation of the results. He is a “no sweat” doctor who is good at putting medical jargon into its proper perspective. I was desperately trying to depend on God’s promise to help, strengthen and uphold me (Isaiah 41:10), but I was still nervous. I had several imperfections in my body that made me feel fearful. I leaned heavily on God’s promise to run interference for me. Since God is sovereign, I asked him to control what the doctor said to me and pictured Jesus leading the way, telling me to “Stay behind Me, I will handle this.”

And he did. He used the doctor to address each of my ten concerns. Some issues were not a big deal, but on others he coached me on things I could do to reduce the problem. I came away from the appointment greatly relieved and encouraged.

I trusted God to keep his promise to uphold me. I relied on the truth, and received his help.

But it’s hard to trust the truth we know. It’s like knowing  God will protect us if he wheels us across Niagara Falls in a wheel barrel, but not so sure we are safe when we are sitting in the barrel being wheeled across. It’s much easier to depend on truth when we don’t have to deal with our doubts and fears.

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