Have you ever had the unpleasant realization that what you thought was true, about certain people or parts of your life, wasn’t actually true? I have.
I felt like what I would imagine a tree feels when it is chopped down. I was standing tall one minute and the next I had no roots. However, unlike the tree, I was still very much alive, whether standing hunched, leaning crooked, or nearly bowed over, I was still painfully alive.
The Source of Truth
My marriage of over two decades was a mixture of severe mental illness, what my Christian counselor called “minimizing and denying,” positive thinking, and not knowing where to go for help. It was pride (wanting so desperately to portray what I wanted my life to be), and misapplied understanding of what respecting my husband meant. This led to a life I thought I knew but was actually, in part, a lie.
It is a strange, horrible, untethering feeling to find yourself in such a place. Overnight, you begin to question everything, and ask, “How could I not know the truth of my own life?” It is a very painful, humbling, and vulnerable place to be.
While it’s a place where you can begin to find healing and help, it’s also a very dangerous place. I have observed others who have also seemed to reevaluate their lives, throw out the proverbial baby with the bathwater.
Have you ever heard that saying, “Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater?” When you’re facing so much pain and questions of eternal importance, when all you hold dear in life is in flux, it’s so important that we remember the source of truth – Jesus and His Word, the Bible.
In your quest for healing and truth, I plead with you not to throw out Jesus.
The Enemy of Faith
I have known the Lord most of my life. I am a pastor’s daughter, a Bible-believing, church attender, and still I faced a reckoning the likes of which ripped my heart in two. But in the midst of this horribly awful time, when most everything was up for grabs, what stayed constant was God.
Throughout life, we will find that others let us down. We will disappoint those closest to us. We will hurt and be hurt by those we love most. We will lose things and people we cannot get back. But in life’s heartaches, don’t throw out Jesus. He will be your anchor in the storm.
What is truth? Jesus. In John 14:6(NLV) Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth….”
[verse reference=”John 14:6″]Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one can go to the Father except by Me.[/verse]
What is truth? The Bible. Psalm 119:160(NLV) tells us, “All of Your Word is truth….”
When you find yourself in a place you never wanted or expected to be, turn to Jesus.
My counselor repeatedly points me to the Psalms. In the Psalms, David pours out his heart to God: the good, the bad, and the ugly. I’m not sure where we get the idea that we can only come to God in our Sunday best, telling Him the things we think He wants to hear. Doesn’t He want all of us?
Lee Warren’s excellent book, I’ve Seen the End of You, says,
“Of the three things that affect how we view the world—faith, doubt, and the things we think we know—doubt would seem to be the most harmful, at least on the surface. But I have learned that doubt is not the enemy of faith. The enemy of faith is often the things we think we know.”
Have you been there when the things you thought you knew either weren’t true or were too painful to face honestly? I have, more than once. My dad, the pastor, taught me to value truth and to believe that God and His Word are truth. Period.
Proverbs 4:13 (The Voice) says,
[verse reference=”Proverbs 4:13″]Tighten your grip around wise advice; don’t let it slip away. Protect Wisdom, for without her, life isn’t worth living.[/verse]
Dad taught me that truth triumphs feelings – always.
We don’t act from what we feel; we act from the truth of what we know to be true from God and His Word.
As my counselor says, “Emotions don’t steer the ship (of your life). They get to ride on the boat, but they don’t steer it.”
My friends, this life is hard. Ask God to show you truth. Be in community with those who love you enough to tell you the truth. Read your Bible; get to know the living God. Pray with honesty; tell God how you really feel. (Hint: He already knows.)
Cry. Laugh. Grow from the hard, but don’t throw God out when life falls apart. He is there, and you need Him now more than ever.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 15:13 (GW),
[verse reference=”Romans 15:13″]May God, the source of hope, fill you with joy and peace through your faith in him. Then you will overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.[/verse] Hold onto hope, my friends.
Sarah Shoe is learning to love Jesus instead of only following a checklist of Christian rules. She married her junior high crush over twenty years ago. Sarah is passionate about mothers and encouraging them in their high and godly calling, which often includes hard days. She daily lives this high calling as a full-time mom to eight children: ½ dozen boys and two girls! You can find her wiping bottoms, placing Wal-Mart pick-up orders, settling arguments, teaching math, always reading, finding bargains, and making so much food. She encourages herself that there will be no laundry in heaven! Sarah would love for you to join her Instagram friends where she shares her life and what God is teaching her.