We live in turbulent times when it is hard to know fact from fiction. Decades ago our reality was the small world we lived in that we could see, touch and feel. We’d escape to the movies once a week to show us foreign places like the South in Gone With The Wind. We had our fantasies like the Wizard of Oz, but in the end, it was clear that it was really just a dream.
Technology allows us to blur our truths beyond the epic adventures of Jaws or Jurassic Park. When we begin to blur our truths, our biases are folded into the bends as we seek to manipulate and in some cases outright deceive. Although we may not intend to initially deceive, our adamant truth fizzles as time goes on and we forget the promises that we made like, “I’ll love you forever,” or “I promise I’ll stop drinking.”
Lies are often a defense mechanism to our fear of being judged. When I go to the doctor’s office and they ask my weight, I typically shave off 5 pounds (rounding down), or when asked about my reading habits, I’m quick to share that I read the Bible every day. In reality, I do weigh that 5 pounds more, and I try to read the Bible every day, but it doesn’t always happen. So why do I try to make people think something that is not real?
The serpent in the Garden of Eden practiced the first lie. It often comes as a question where we are asked to doubt reality, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is the middle of the garden?’”
In these turbulent times where technology can provide us with any story, real or imagined, what is the truth that we can rely on?
The only “truths” that we can be sure of our God’s promises:
Psalm 89:34- I will not violate my covenant, or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
2 Corinthians 1:20- For in him every one of God’s promises is a “Yes.” For this reason it is through him that we say the “Amen,” to the glory of God.
James 1:5- If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
God’s truths are the only reliable truths, unspoiled by our human biases.
I pray that we will all ask God for wisdom, and it will be given to us. Amen.
Blessings,
Agatha