Most of the time I can go through life content with knowing just enough of the truth to keep going. I just need to have enough of God's truth in my life to be able to live a comfortable life. I may even know I'm deceived in a specific area, but it doesn't really bother me.
At least, that used to be how I lived. I can't live that way anymore. Not once I discovered the freedom that comes with knowing the truth.
Hearing the truth can be painful sometimes. And it can be difficult to learn how to live the truth - especially is we've been living deceived for a while.
But once we learn of the freedom the truth brings in our lives, we see no other way to really live. We become desperate for the truth.
I'm not talking about what we decide the truth is. Or what our culture tells us the truth is. Those will keep us living lives that are bound up in deception.
The truth we are really desperate for is God's truth - contained in His Word. God's truth is what sets us free. God's truth is what really allows us to live.
But we live in a world where truth isn't sought. A world where truth changes from person to person. We get caught in a trap of deception and we're now convinced it's the truth.
We're all caught in it to some degree. It's more obvious for some of us than for others. Sometimes we can hide the ways we're caught in the web of deception and sometimes we can't.
The good news is that we don't have to stay stuck. With God's help, we can begin to discover His truth - the real truth. The truth that frees us.
As we seek Him, we hear His truth spoken to the lies we've been believing. As we take the truth we hear and ask God to help us learn to live it, we find one more part of us is freed from the web of deception we've been tangled in.
As we begin to experience this freedom, we want more of it. We start to search for the truth because it is what sets us free.
We'll spend our entire lives on this seeking of God's truth. And we'll quickly discover it's a worthwhile way to live. Growing deeper in our relationship with God as we continue our desperate search for the truth.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Friday, June 5, 2015
Alone
Alone.
Just me walking in the door.
The familiar question running through my head: Will there be anyone who comes today that I can sit with? Or will I sit alone again?
It's not that I don't feel welcome here. I do. I'm definitely at home here. It's a place of familiar faces.
But, it's still hard to sit alone so often.
The service is over. Everyone is heading out the doors. Some to pick up their kids and some to visit with others. Some are in a hurry to leave and some will linger.
Should I stay and try to find people to visit with? Or should I just quickly leave?
Some weeks I linger. Some weeks I go.
Conversations in settings like that are difficult for me - especially when I'm feeling alone. I want to connect, but sometimes it feels like because I'm alone, it's more difficult to connect. Maybe it's because I struggle with making small talk too.
______________
Each time I go to church events of any kind, thoughts and struggles similar to these go through my head. As a single person, who is also an introvert, easily overwhelmed by crowds, going to church events can be hard.
I want to go, but I also struggle with it. I usually go anyways and put a smile on my face, but the truth is I'm fighting a battle with myself inside.
Sometimes it seems like I'm the odd one out in these settings. Everyone I talk to is married and often has kids. And that seems to make conversation more difficult - like there's less to find for common ground.
But, we were made to need each other. God made us to need relationship with people. We need to connect with others.
Sometimes our feelings can hinder our view of reality. In those moments when I'm feeling alone, it's far easier to further isolate myself from others, than to reach out to others and seek that connection. But, those are exactly the moments when we need to reach out most - when we need to push past the feelings of being alone and make connection with others.
When we seek that connection with others that God created us for, we begin to live the life that God intends for us to live.
Just me walking in the door.
The familiar question running through my head: Will there be anyone who comes today that I can sit with? Or will I sit alone again?
It's not that I don't feel welcome here. I do. I'm definitely at home here. It's a place of familiar faces.
But, it's still hard to sit alone so often.
The service is over. Everyone is heading out the doors. Some to pick up their kids and some to visit with others. Some are in a hurry to leave and some will linger.
Should I stay and try to find people to visit with? Or should I just quickly leave?
Some weeks I linger. Some weeks I go.
Conversations in settings like that are difficult for me - especially when I'm feeling alone. I want to connect, but sometimes it feels like because I'm alone, it's more difficult to connect. Maybe it's because I struggle with making small talk too.
______________
Each time I go to church events of any kind, thoughts and struggles similar to these go through my head. As a single person, who is also an introvert, easily overwhelmed by crowds, going to church events can be hard.
I want to go, but I also struggle with it. I usually go anyways and put a smile on my face, but the truth is I'm fighting a battle with myself inside.
Sometimes it seems like I'm the odd one out in these settings. Everyone I talk to is married and often has kids. And that seems to make conversation more difficult - like there's less to find for common ground.
But, we were made to need each other. God made us to need relationship with people. We need to connect with others.
Sometimes our feelings can hinder our view of reality. In those moments when I'm feeling alone, it's far easier to further isolate myself from others, than to reach out to others and seek that connection. But, those are exactly the moments when we need to reach out most - when we need to push past the feelings of being alone and make connection with others.
When we seek that connection with others that God created us for, we begin to live the life that God intends for us to live.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
The Need for Silence in Conversation
How do you respond in conversations when there are moments of silence? Do you look for something to fill the silence? Or do you wait it out?
We all have different reactions to silence in groups - whether it be just us and one other person, or a larger group of people. Some are uncomfortable with it and will desperately seek to fill it. Others will just fill the silence and not even realize they're doing it. Still others are comfortable with it and will just wait it out.
There is one group of people, who sees silence as completely necessary. Without it, they just won't say anything. It might seem counter-intuitive to others, but these people need it.
As one of these people who needs silence in conversation to participate fully in it, I can say that it is sometimes hard to explain this to people and have them understand. Without silence to allow me to form my thoughts and then put them into words for others, I just won't say anything.
There is a need to silence sometimes. I know not everyone needs the same thing. Some people don't handle silence well. But, some people need it.
When I take a bit of time to answer your question, I'm putting my thoughts into words to communicate it with you. I need the silence to do that. I realize sometimes it's awkward when I take that time. I take as little time as possible to put it all together. But, I need the time to do so.
I'll give you lots of room to talk. I'll happily listen. But, if you fill all the quiet places, I'll never say a thing. I'm asking for some grace from you, in those moments when I need some time to put my words together.
Part of learning to do life together is learning to work with each other in all our differences. That means I'm learning to not get annoyed when others keep talking and avoid the silence. It also means, I'm asking that others learn to work with my need for silence in the midst of conversation.
We all have different reactions to silence in groups - whether it be just us and one other person, or a larger group of people. Some are uncomfortable with it and will desperately seek to fill it. Others will just fill the silence and not even realize they're doing it. Still others are comfortable with it and will just wait it out.
There is one group of people, who sees silence as completely necessary. Without it, they just won't say anything. It might seem counter-intuitive to others, but these people need it.
As one of these people who needs silence in conversation to participate fully in it, I can say that it is sometimes hard to explain this to people and have them understand. Without silence to allow me to form my thoughts and then put them into words for others, I just won't say anything.
There is a need to silence sometimes. I know not everyone needs the same thing. Some people don't handle silence well. But, some people need it.
When I take a bit of time to answer your question, I'm putting my thoughts into words to communicate it with you. I need the silence to do that. I realize sometimes it's awkward when I take that time. I take as little time as possible to put it all together. But, I need the time to do so.
I'll give you lots of room to talk. I'll happily listen. But, if you fill all the quiet places, I'll never say a thing. I'm asking for some grace from you, in those moments when I need some time to put my words together.
Part of learning to do life together is learning to work with each other in all our differences. That means I'm learning to not get annoyed when others keep talking and avoid the silence. It also means, I'm asking that others learn to work with my need for silence in the midst of conversation.
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