Truth exists. Truth isn’t relative. Sometimes, however, truth gets buried beneath the details—layer upon layer of story that muddy up the process of discovery. Why conceal it? To quote Jack Nicholson’s famous line from the movie A Few Good Men . . .
“You can’t handle the truth.”
The truth is, once the layers of a story begin to accumulate, once personal involvement becomes so thick and entangled in the details, and once a step or two is taken across the line that exists between honesty and deception, well, handling the truth means handling the history related to that truth. For some people, it’s impossible to go there, to live there . . . with truth.
Handling truth. Handling lies. This has been my portion over this past week, sorting out the intricate details of a civil case. With the invaluable aid of the other eleven jurors sitting next to me, we did our best to dig through the layers of one particular story. In doing so, we reached a conclusion based on the minimal amount of evidence presented to us.
Yesterday afternoon, we walked away from one another and back into our own lives—our personal stories that now include a chapter called Room 327. The truth? Well, I think some of it remains back in that courthouse, buried in the hearts of the plaintiff and defendant involved in the case. Between the two of them, truth exists. I’m fairly confident in my conclusion, though, that neither one of them willingly wants to handle it. The story is so deep and its layers so thick that truth no longer has a commanding voice in the matter, perhaps only a faint whisper every now and again.
Handling truth. Putting our hands on the Bible and promising to tell it, so help us God.
So . . .
Help us, God. Help me, God. To handle the truth. To reverently, passionately, confidently, and with full assurance hold truth. Speak truth. Mean what I say and say what I mean. Put my hand on the Bible and have it signify something . . . signify everything, knowing that as I live my life before men, I first and most importantly live my life before God.
God is Truth (see John 14:6). He knows truth. And when I have failed to get to the truth of the matter as it pertains to my own life and to the lives of others, God alone holds the key to perfect understanding. He has sorted out the details, sifted through the layers, and that which remains hidden to us (sometimes by us) has already been found by him. Truth cannot be concealed from God’s eyes; truth is revealed . . . always, ever-present and crystal clear. Sometimes, however, our vision is blurred by the fig leaves we use to hide our many sins, our shame, and the overwhelming pride that led us to believe we could live independently from truth.
To live truthfully, is to bow soul-naked before God. Those unwilling to do so are those who have no fear of God. Instead, they fear man, a tangible fear to be certain. But it’s not an eternal fear. If we could really take hold of the everlasting, take hold of the truth that what is happening down here on planet earth is but a dress rehearsal for what is to come for our eternal tomorrows, then we’d no longer have to place our hands on the Bible and swear our allegiances to truth. We’d just live truth. Our word would be our oath and our souls would breathe easier. Our crosses would be fewer and our burdens lightly carried.
Handling truth. How goes it in your own life? Where does your allegiance lie? Who do you fear most . . . man or God? When was the last time you bowed soul-naked before your Creator and allowed him to sort through the layers of your story to get to the truth? You may not be able to handle the truth, but God can. God does. God is. And with the help of his Holy Spirit, he will release you from the fig leaves that are preventing you from your freedom walk in this earth-garden.
I pray that kind of freedom for each one of you today. I’m praying it for myself, to live so honestly before God and before you that we don’t have to waste a moment in the courtroom of life to get to the truth.
The truth is . . . my soul has been profoundly affected by my experience this last week. My heart is open to all the ways that God may want to use it to teach me more about him, more about his people, and how better to live that more in this earth-garden until he calls me home to his heavenly one.
Soul naked before the Father. Even so I come, Lord Jesus. Teach me to handle your truth. As always, friends . . .
Peace for the journey,
Could not have said it any better. And where there is truth, Truth, freedom reigns. Any You shall know the truth, and the Truth will set you free. Thank you, Elaine, for reminding me of what I need to do. Blessings.
Truth is deep in my own heart. Dishonesty was a pattern through my childhood and beyond. When God brought me to full repentance, dishonesty was stripped away in a painful and ongoing process. The beauty of it is, when God deals with truth, or any other pattern of sin, He does it completely, He changes us from the inside out. I would rather do almost anything than tell a lie. He honesstly takes our weak areas and makes them our testimony of His grace. The truth does make us free. Great post Elaine.
I’m a little speechless right now, Elaine. This was such a deeply thought-provoking post. Never been on a jury before myself, but I remember the tales that my son told me after he sat on a jury for a civil case (after the trial was over!). It was a difficult experience for him, too. And he was deeply affected by the *(non) truth-telling* on both sides of the courtroom.
Soul-naked. That is a scary prospect in many ways. But, we aren’t really hiding anything from God. More likely that we are hiding from ourselves. He sees the truth in our sometimes deceitful hearts. Is it a truth I can handle? Maybe not always. But, I want more than anything for God to come in and clean house. I want to be as close to Him as possible. I want to be like Him.
Teach me truth, Lord, and give me the strength to handle it.
After all, my verdict has been rendered…”NOT GUILTY!”
GOD BLESS!
Anything short of it ~ truth ~ ensures our lives will be lived out in a shadow. No thank you. I much prefer the truth, though at times it takes me awhile to dig it out. Would love to hear the details of your jury experience. What a powerful privilege!
While we try to hide the truth and hide from truth, what we forget is that ultimately truth is freedom. It is freedom from having to remember which lie we told. It is freedom from looking behind you to make sure your lie is not catching up to you. Most importantly, truth is knowing Jesus and living a life that is Jesus-like. Blessings to you, Elaine.
Well said, Elaine. We need the truth to set us free. God bless you as you continue to minister. Blessings.
I’m thankful that we can live honestly before God, resting in the fact that He loves us no matter what. At times it can be painful but mostly it’s a comfort to me. Glad you made it through your week of jury duty, Elaine. I served on a jury once, and it’s quite an experience.
I’ve sat here for ten minutes….in the middle of the night!…trying to frame words to reply to this post. But so far, I’ve not come up with a thing that can really describe my feelings about your newest words. Truth. It’s so much more than we imagine sometimes. So needful in these days. I can’t add a thing to what you’ve already said. Just in awe as always at how the Lord uses you in so many areas of life.
God bless you my dear sweet Faith(full) friend!
Thank you my friend, for once more ministering to my heart. I love you.
Elaine, you always open your heart fully to others, God and the truth. That much I know about you. You speak the truth and share it. I can count on that from you. I think it is awesome that you take more away from this experience than just the fact of doing jury duty. You live–everything you do!
I knew you would be filled by this experience. It’s funny how much I can go so deep with the Lord when I’m face to face with truth, not to mention the law and man’s judgement. It is the very things that open my eyes a little wider to His grace and mercy.
Great post my friend!
Wonderful post sweet lady. Just great. Well said. Truth, God’s truth, is refreshing and freeing. Our Lord is magnificent!
I love the image of bowing soul-naked before my Creator. In fact, I’m going to do that right now.
Beautifully written…..You are a special lady
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