The Truth Guide

 I am an information gatherer. It”s part of the way I am wired. I love learning new things and, although I don’t always retain all the details, the process of finding facts is a challenge I delight in. I guess that’s why I really enjoyed my years working in a middle school library. Causal conversation often led to research. A question was raised simply in passing, but “Let’s find out,” became the answer. We had the tools to resolve our questions in the stacks or at our fingertips. It was a kind of game and one I fully enjoyed. I have always enjoyed the quest for knowledge.

The Internet has made it much easier to find facts in a hurry, but it has also made it more difficult to determine the actual from the advertised, and information from opinion.The students who came to our library are children of the Information Age. They saw the Internet as the ultimate storehouse of knowledge and a sort of information vending machine. Put in a question and out comes your answer. However,  as they began to use it for project research they soon found that the amount of information they received was overwhelming and not always helpful. Our job was to guide them in asking the right questions in the search bar and then help them learn to evaluate their search results. Often the guidance was as simple as “Look at the source.” If the website was a reputable source, then the information could be considered for their project.

Isn’t it like that with truth these days? People define truth based on their own perceptions and opinions. Truth is often determined by majority consensus rather than by facts and reality. Instead of a quest for facts that ground belief people interpret facts through the filter of their own beliefs built on ever-changing factors. Truth as a term has become muddied in the midst of our subjective culture. Truth these days is not a standard to adhere to, but is in the eye of the beholder. Each person has their own truth, so to speak, and each person’s “truth” is expected to be met with the same weight of respect even when they are totally contradicting each other. But if truth is true, isn’t it true all the time?

Maybe the question “What is truth?” isn’t really a new idea. When the Lord Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate He said that He had come to testify to the truth. Pilate’s response, “What is truth?“ (John 18:37-38) It appears that Pilate didn’t believe in one truth either. I imagine that, even in that ancient culture, Pilate was not alone. Jesus’ commitment to God’s truth cost Him His life. He was willing to testify to the truth of God’s love for sinful man by dying on the cross. With so many “truths” available to modern humanity how do we know our truth is the one worth dying for?

Even believers can fall prey to interpreting the Bible through the filter of perception and consensus rather than with informed minds searching for truly Spirit-led conclusions.We can fall prey to creating our own Biblical “truth” that is nothing like what our God or those whom He used to write His Word intended. So how do we know, reallly know, what is true when it comes to the Bible?

Have you ever heard the saying"All truth is God’s truth”? John Calvin wrote, “All truth is most precious, so all men confess it to be so. And yet, since Gold alone is the source of all good, you must not doubt, that whatever truth you anywhere meet with, proceeds from Him, unless you would be doubly ungrateful to him:”  Going back even further in time, Augustine of Hippo wrote, “A person who is a good and true Christian should realize that truth belongs to his Lord, wherever it is found, gathering and acknowledging it even in pagan literature, but rejecting superstitious vanities...” These fathers of the faith believed that there is truth that is unchanging and solid, even in the secular world, and were confident that the Christian could and should discern it wherever it is found. But how do I know what is true? There is a way and God Himself has provided it.

Jesus declared Himslef to be “the way, the truth and the life” and that no could reach Father God except through HIm (John 14:6) If all truth is God’s truth and Jesus is the truth, then whatever truth we find in whatever source would have to agree with what Jesus said. In addition, it must be something that can lead us to Father God. Any truth that is really based on solid fact and reality must lead back to God. God’s goal is to transform us into His image, to reflect His character, (Romans 8:29). Truth must be evaluated through it’s ability to build godly people. Pastor Rick Warren has pointed out, “Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17:17, ‘Use the truth to make them complete. You Word is truth.’” Whatever truth we find “even in pagan literature” must agree with God’s Word.

But there is an additional way that God has given us in order to discern truth. He has given us His Holy Spirit. In John 16 verses 12 and 13 Jesus told His disciples “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.“ This is actually the second time Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit helping believers to know what is true. In John 14:17 He says, “The Spirit will show you what is true.” (CEV)  Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit, His Spirit, the Spirit of Christ Himself, so that we can know what is true, what He calls true.

When I struggle to discern what is true in the world, but also within the many circles of Christian thought that exist in our multi-truthed culture, I ask the Holy Spirit to show me what is true. I am confident that He will do it. That is what Jesus sent Him for! It’s important that I remain humble enough to admit that I may come to wrong conclusions. (I really like to be right, don’t you?) But I know that ultimately the Holy Spirit will show me, and all committed believers, what is true. 1 Corinthians 13:12 says, “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” (NLT) That’s a truth worth waiting for. Don’t you think?

Key Thought: When I struggle to know what is true the Holy Spirit will guide me.

A Scripture to consider: The Spirit will show you what is true. John 14:17 CEV

A YES challenge: Is there something you are struggling to understand? Have you discerned what is true? Take some time to journal about it and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what is true. Write down what He shows you.

Prayer: Father God, there are so many “truths” out there today, even in Christianity. It can be overwhelming. Thank You for sending Jesus, the Truth, into the world to demonstrate Your love. Thank You, Jesus, for testifying to God’s truth and sending us the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth, Your truth. Help me to rely on the Holy Spirit rather than my own understanding when it comes to discerning truth. Help me to rely on Your Word and Your character as I navigate the truth challenges ahead. I need You, Holy Spirit to show me what is true. Amen.

w=W: The Formula for Peace

In 1991, Tom and I, and our two children under 3 years old,  moved back to New York after two years in Pensacola, Florida. Because we were just waiting for a call from the FAA for Tom to begin training as an air traffic controller, our plan was to live at my parents’ house until he finished training and then move to wherever he was placed. Simple plan. The only wrinkle in the plan was that the U.S. government put a freeze on all hiring so no new air traffic controllers were being trained. There was no call coming from the FAA in the foreseeable future. Time for a new plan.

We ended up living downstairs at Mom and Dad’s for over three years. That was not the resolution I wanted! My heart yearned for a place of my own.  For many months there was no personal space at the end of our tunnel. We had one large room divided by furniture in the middle. The kids’ beds and a bathroom were on one side of the furniture wall. The other side was the “living room” with a foldout couch where Tom and I slept. The conditions were not ideal, but not terrible. The biggest problem was inside of me. I just did not want to be there and couldn’t wait to get out!

With no escape in the near future, I knew that something needed to change in me, but I didn’t know what. God gave me opportunities to explore options. Because I didn’t have my own home to maintain, I found myself with more time to fill than a mother of young children often has. Once the kids were in bed for the night, I could read or listen to messages on cassette tape (remember those?!). I searched for an internal resolution. As I discovered Scriptures or quotes that encouraged me, I would write them on index cards and tape them to the back of the door in our one-room basement “home.” The constant viewing was to remind me to make my attitude adjustments.

Of all the cards that I posted during those years there are a few that I still remember. The truths inked in my own handwriting on those 3x5 lined cards changed me and how I respond to life’s challenges. On one of those cards was a simple formula, w=W. Three little characters that still have a big impact on my life.

I found the formula in a book called “The Body” by Charles Colson. In it Colson shares many stories of people living out their faith in difficult situations. One vignette was of a Polish priest named Maximillian Kolbe who taught this truth to the priests living in his monastery after the Nazis took it over. He wrote the formula with chalk on a blackboard and explained that the small w represents my will and the large W represents God’s will. When my will is contrary to Gods will it creates a cross. In order to remove the cross I must submit my will to God’s will. His charge to the priests: “Now all you must do is obey!”

Though I clearly saw the solution to my struggle found in that simple formula, simple does not mean easy! I knew that obeying would enable me to walk through the dark tunnel with peace, but my desires were often screaming loudly and I felt the cross of being at odds with God’s will. It took time, but eventually those inner screams became submitted statements. I still wanted a place of my own, but accepted where I was and was not in constant turmoil.

The day came when it was time to take down my index cards from the back of the door. I think I still have them somewhere, but that small formula I carry with me always. Not on an index card, but it is emblazoned on my brain and my heart. I know that it works, because I’ve experienced it. I also know that it isn’t always that easy to put into practice. There are times when it flashes across my mind and I recognize the cross of my will at odds with God’s will. I know that the answer is simple. All I need do is obey. Easier said than done, but possible.

Dear One, do you recognize that cross in your life today? Would you like to remove it? The formula is simple and clear. It may take some time, but it is possible to walk in peace even if your situation doesn’t change. Don’t give up! Peace is possible. w=W.

Key thought: Peace is possible when my will lines up with God’s will.

A Scripture to consider: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭22:42‬ ‭NIV‬‬

A YES challenge: Take some time to let the Holy Spirit reveal where your will and God’s will are at odds. Ask HIm to help you to put w=W into practice.

Prayer: Father, I don’t want to be where I am today. I’d really like my situation to change, but I dont see any end in sight. I know that if the situation is not going to change, then I need to change. I dont know how to make that happen, but You do. Guide me to peace. Help me align my will with Yours. Amen.

Footnote: The Body: Being Light in the Darkness (c) 1992, Charles W. Colson with Ellen Saltilli Vaughan