I’d love to say this is the first time something like
this has happened. Memories of another very similar travel fluke flood my mind.
It’s Hawaii three years ago. Killing time before our nine-hour return flight, I
happen to call on the status of our flight. Panic strikes. There is no flight
number matching the one I have. “What do you mean there’s no flight with that
number? It’s the one on my confirmation!” I counter. The airline reorders our
travel to get us home, a significant feat for six travelers, but not before my
husband reaches the farthest edge of patience. After a 5 a.m. layover in Los
Angeles, and another several hours later in Dallas, we finally make it home. Exhausted,
everyone heads to bed. That evening, as I unpack my carry on, I stumble upon a
silly little email in my travel file for our trip. It was from the airline months
before our trip alerting me of the flight change for the return leg of our
journey. The realization of what I’d done still registers in the size of my
eyes and the flutter in my belly! Crossroads. Do I continue to let James believe
it’s all the airline’s fault, or do I confess? When I tell you I had no
recollection of that email, I am telling you the truth. My brain works like
that. I’m a list and sticky note kind of gal. Once I write something down, I
don’t have to keep it in my brain anymore, so I don’t. James, on the other
hand, keeps everything in his head. It would simply get too crowded up there
for me! Consequently, I released all memory of that darn email once I printed
and filed it. The problem is, the email got buried behind some other papers,
and I never looked that carefully at my file. The confession went smoother than
I thought it would. I think it’s the “Isn’t that funny, honey?” look that does
it every time.
Sitting on the plane we almost missed Tuesday, the lesson
sinks in. Yes, I need to check and double check my information. I think about
its application to my walk with God. First Thessalonians 5:21 says to “examine
everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good” (NASB). Colossians 2:8
says, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty
deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary
principles of the world, rather than according to Christ” (NASB). Test
everything against the word of God to see if it is truth. I assumed the
information in my phone was correct. I never checked the original source: the
confirmation email for our flight. Assumptions can be very dangerous. The way
to protect ourselves and escape precarious situations is to go to the source.
Second Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is given
by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be
complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Correction stands out to
me. Correct information. The truth versus a lie. Speaking of the last days, 2
Timothy 3:13 tells us, “Evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse,
deceiving and being deceived.” These are dangerous times, and if we don’t read
and study the Bible for ourselves, we won’t be able to recognize the lies. The
imposters. And that’s a most dangerous place. We must be able to discern between
true and false prophets. True and false teachings. The truth about ourselves
and who we are in Christ. The security of our eternal inheritance. The
forgiveness of our sins, past, present, and future. Our best defense against
deception is truth, especially when it comes to the word of God. We can’t just
take someone else’s word for it. We’ve got to dig in and find out what it says
for ourselves. All of it. We must know
Truth to recognize the Liar.
Many of us grew up with certain beliefs, things we were
taught and simply accepted as truth. Growing up, I picked up the belief that
what God started in the spirit when He saved me by grace through faith in Jesus
Christ, I had to maintain through personal effort and performance. Since I chose
to put my faith in Jesus, it stood to reason that my continued choices would
put me in good or poor standing with Him. His favor and blessings, I
subconsciously resolved, were dependent on my ability to please Him in some
way. When my failures overwhelmed my good performance, and those days were and
are many, I shied away from God. I couldn’t even imagine how in the world He
could keep loving me. It was a path of continual disappointment and deflated
hope. You probably would never have known it by looking at me, but inside, I
had a lot of doubts.
My 2011 trials exhumed my doubts and thrust me into
God’s word for truth. For myself. To see it and absorb it and apply it because
God spoke directly to my heart through His word. I believe one of the most
critical things the Holy Spirit did was bring me to a place where I was willing
to be shown where I was wrong. That’s difficult with long-held beliefs. It’s
uncomfortable, but I believe it’s the only way to know the truth. I prayed that
God would show me His truth straight from His word, not from any man’s
teaching, so I would know it was Him. I asked Him to show me where I was deceived.
And He is faithful. If you ask, He will answer. He unveiled His grace. And its
ramifications. That God exerted His holy influence on me to turn me to Christ,
and He exerts His holy influence on me to keep me in Christ. Since He saved me
and gave me the faith to respond, I had nothing to do with it. And so why in
the world would my efforts be required now to maintain my salvation? What a
relief! That’s what truth does. It sets us free.
Do you have beliefs you’ve simply accepted because
it’s what you’ve been taught all your life? Do you know that you know that you
know what the word of God says? Do you have questions you’d like answered? Do
you seek guarantees? Scripture is full of them! Do you have areas in which you
need the truth to set you free? My friend, get in the word. Ask the Holy Spirit
to speak to you through the scriptures you read and study, to give you
understanding of what it means and what He wants you to do with it. If you read
it and don’t understand it, ask for help. He hears. It’s one of His guarantees.
So I’ll check and double check. God’s word and our
travel itineraries. Just in case. And I’ll thank God for His unending mercy
when I fail at due diligence and end up in a pickle, like Tuesday, flying home.
And I thank Him for James, and his patient endurance with fifteen years of
marriage to a young woman who had and has a lot to learn. Happy Anniversary,
baby. I fall more in love with you every day. And that’s the truth.
May His grace draw you to His truth in all things
today as together we become wholly His.
Shauna Wallace
Holy His
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