Truth or Dare? Which will you pick? Come on now, you remember playing this as a kid, if you didn’t – you missed out! So which will it be? This isn’t the same version – but its one people have a hard time facing….
Truth – Okay, the truth is most people are uncomfortable taking a good long hard look at themselves. Most people don’t want to “hear the truth” because it brings everything out into the bright florescent light, where every imperfection comes to light and cannot be hid. When I think about this, I think isn’t it better to take a good hard look at yourself NOW because one day life will be over and you will be standing before God with your life shining before you, every single blank page of life that God had given to you each day shown with what you chose to write upon it. I call it “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.” I don’t know about you, but me – I’ve got some serious “ugly” written on some of the pages of my life that even I don’t like revisiting! You know those moments that you want to hide your eyes from with your fingers? You grimace or squirm at the stupidity of you? Those “what was I thinking? How could I have been so asinine, was that REALLY ME????” moments. I even want to run away from the words I am typing right now on this page. Okay – it’s only fair, you are reading this so I’ll start…
As an ex-prodigal I have done some really stupid things. I have hurt people (and for those of you who are reading these words right now and part of that “hurt” I need to say it for the 100th time – I’m sorry!) by my actions. More than hurting people, my actions hurt myself. As I have previously stated throughout my blog, never say never. Never look down your nose at someone else or presume that “it couldn’t possibly happen to you” because just when you stick that hoity-toity nose in the air, one that is looking judgmentally down at others because of “their situation” you just *may* find yourself wearing their same shoes and wondering as you’re wearing them how you allowed yourself to get into what you always thought would be for you “never-never land” in the first place. OH YES – it happens! And it could VERY WELL HAPPEN TO YOU! I’ve had to eat humble pie and it is very similar to those childhood moments that I recall having to sit at the family dinner table and eat what my mother and father use to call a “no thank you helping.” A no thank you helping consisted of two tablespoons of whatever type of food you disliked eating that was going to be part of dinner, and we had to eat it, whatever it was. I could not get up from the table until that “no thank you helping” was GONE. For me, it was peas or lima beans! Blech! I dreaded when they were going to be part of dinner! I remember thanking God for the gift of ketchup! I would drown those suckers in ketchup hold my breathe keep my milk or drink close at hand and do what needed to be done! Those two tablespoons of unwanted food seemed HUGE and it felt like forever getting it down, but I did because I knew I would not be allowed to get up from that table until they were gone!
Sometimes those “no thank you” moments in life are the ones we have piled on their ourselves… And we end up having to eat them in order to move forward in our lives.
The more the days go by, the more I realize that perspective is everything… How you look at things… It colors EVERYTHING. Lately, I have been trying to change my perspective of things from sometimes being negative to being one that is faith filled. Believe me when I say it makes a difference. You can choose to become “bitter” or “better” from your experiences. Me – I have decided to make an effort to become BETTER.
Allowing yourself to stand in the most revealing of light shows all your flaws. Okay, we ALL have them. We are a “work in progress” if we recognize that about ourselves maybe we can be a little less critical of our own selves. I believe that as long as we have breath in our bodies we are growing, transforming and learning, hopefully maturing in Christ as we become what He has called us to be.
Truth is – the things we worry about are the things that we really should put before the altar of God at the cross of Jesus. There are certain things that we were not *made* to carry, yet we do. I have to remind myself of this every day that GOD IS IN CONTROL. I AM NOT.
As a cancer survivor, even one that God has healed, there are times when overwhelming fear comes over me. It can be a paralyzing fear, and when it happens I have to pray and remember that I BELONG TO GOD. My life is *not* my own. My days and the number of them belong to HIM. There is a peace in that, but as someone who is a planner and who is human – I sometimes forget that God is in PERFECT control. I, on the other hand – am not. This is where perspective comes in. This is where faith comes in. This is where submission comes in. This is where trust comes in. The truth is – this is something that I constantly battle and have to work on EVERY day. I am NOT in control – but GOD is. (And by the way, have you ever noticed that the things you worry about are seldom the things that happen??? How much time we waste worrying!)
Truth is – that God wants us to be aware of the things we need changing within us and recognize that there are sometimes things that we CANNOT change ourselves, but need Him to help us. It is times such as these when I pray, “Lord, if there be ANY evil within me – anything that is displeasing to YOU please change it. Please help me to turn it over to you to change” and then be amendable to those changes. Do you remember physical growth pains when you were a kid? (I do!) When your knees ached or your legs ached? Or your chest ached because your body was growing and changing? Spiritual growth has its aches and pains too.
One last truth for you to chew upon as you consider putting yourself in your own fluorescent spotlight and examining your own self. Keep in mind that you have an enemy who doesn’t want you to grow in Christ. Who doesn’t want you to take a long good hard look at yourself and work on those things within you that need changing. He will whisper in your ear all kinds of accusations or make you feel as though you need to just throw up your hands in surrender because you JUST can’t change. Or he will make you deny or not want to face those things that need changing which will in turn stunt your spiritual growth. Allowing him to have the victory over your mind and not face the truth of YOU will keep you in a stagnant pool that God did not mean your life to remain in. DON’T LISTEN TO HIM and DON’T ALLOW HIM TO KEEP YOU THERE. REBUKE IT. He is a liar! He wants your perception to be negative; he wants you to feel defeated. He wants you “to settle for less.” Make up your mind to go forward – God did not intend you to live a life of mediocracy.
Come to think of it – maybe that is not only a truth, but a dare… So let me put it this way – I DARE YOU. I DARE YOU to take a hard, truthful look at yourself. I DARE you to stand in that light and face “the good, the bad and the ugly” and to then give what you see to God. Have a good ol’ fashion discussion with Him about what you see about YOU. After all, HE created YOU. He knows EVERY hair on your head. Discuss it with Him, have a real heart to heart – and then, trust Him to help you through it. Because the truth is – He wants to, He’s able and as long as you are willing – He will.
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