Thought for Thursday, September 20th

September 20, 2012

The Absence of Truth

“We pay a person the compliment of acknowledging his superiority whenever we lie to him.”

-       Samuel Butler

Lying lips are an abomination unto the Lord.

Proverbs 12:22

I found the quote from Samuel Butler, above, to be intriguing and thought provoking.  I suppose prior to contemplating this thought I had always considered an individuals lack of honesty to be an insult, hurtful and harmful, and never did give any thought toward anything positive that could be taken from it. And I’m not sure that I agree with his premise, even yet, but still it did make me stop and think.

I have often wondered, that if we would stop and think before we accuse or judge a situation or a condition based on what we think we know versus what might be actually so, if we might not be better served and more affective servants for the Lord.

I’ve heard many say, ‘truth is relative’ or that, ‘the perception of truth lies within the eye of the perceiver.’  But is that really true?  Aren’t there always three sides to just about every story?  There is yours, there is mine and then there is God’s.

Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “Sin has many tools, but a lie is a handle which flits them all.”

I often wonder when it comes to conflict and discrepancies of opinion within the body of Christ, if part of the reason we can’t seem to find resolve, is because we aren’t willing to move beyond our emotional feelings our predetermined prejudices and our human limitations: to allow ourselves to see a truth that may transcend any opinion or thought we may have already had.  Jesus is quoted as saying in the Gospel of John, ‘I am the truth…”

If we could be or would be brave enough to allow God to open our spiritual eyes to see His ultimate truth, I wonder how shocked and amazed we would all be?

Today’s Prayer

Father, so many times I believe a thing to be ultimate truth because I perceive it to be so: Help me to move beyond what I see and help me to grasp what you know so that I can not just seem to see but that I will truly know that truth and that that knowledge will set me free from so much of the stress and frustrations that I find myself dealing with.

“I have a Maker
He formed my heart
Before even time began
    My life was in his hands.
I have a Father
He calls me His own
He'll never leave me
No matter where I go
He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
And He hears me when I call “

-  Lyrics from ‘He Knows My Name’ by Tommy Walker