Lie to Me…A Little Bit

            Isn’t it amazing how that we try to design our lives in the best possible way to milk approval and acceptance from others?  Believe it or not, we will willingly accept being lied to in order to get this from others.

            This is a concept that we developed early on in our lives from the flesh controlling us before we became believers in Christ.  It still tries to intimidate, control, and trouble us as we daily live our lives.

            Now, those of you who came to know Christ early in life may not have as strong a problem as mine, but you still live in a fleshly body that irritates and troubles you too.

Sometimes it really kicks our butts!

            ……… enough of theology for now; I don’t want you falling asleep on me!

But the truth really is, we like people to lie to us about certain things.  Most of the time, we Christians like to use a word that is more comfortable to us—exaggerate.

            Put yourself into this situation:

            A wife tries on a new pair of jeans, then turns to her husband and says the most dreaded words he can ever possibly hear.

            “Honey, do these jeans make me look fat?”  Immediately his mind starts racing toward answers while subconsciously considering suicide.

 Answers like these begin to pop up in his terror filled mind:

            A.  “Well Honey,  yea…a little.”

            B.  “Honey, I heard a noise outside and I need to go check it out.  You look fine.”

            C.  (Lie today, live tomorrow) “Of course not, dear!  You are looking thinner every

                   day!”

Her expectations of an answer are also running through her mind as she really desires affirmation:

            A.  “Please!! – I sooo want to not look fat!”

            B.  “Don’t answer if I do look fat because I like these jeans so much.”

            C.  “Honey, if you really love me, lie to me – a little bit.”

Hopefully he says the right thing in order to live another day, and so that his dear wife will feel good about herself.

            Sometimes we all think like this in the different situations of our lives.  We all like to be lied to – a little bit.  No one wants to be told that they have on an ugly shirt, or that their hair looks goofy today.  We subconsciously think, “Just tell me I look fine.”  (Lie to me—just a little.)

            Recently, I was in a meeting where that I was not lied to, not even a little bit.  It was a six month training class where I was learning how to be a better chaplain, pastor, and caregiver to those who naturally come into my life.  Part of the intent of this class was that we had to evaluate ourselves and each other very honestly.  Because these people would not lie to me and pamper my ego, at times it was very uncomfortable and I just wanted to run away to my safe place.

            One of the most important things that happened early on was one of the students (who happened to be a preacher also) looked directly at me and said, “Dan, I sense that you have a lot of pain in your life.”  I was taken aback and stunned…because he was absolutely right!  I thought that I had it hidden so well, but the Lord knew that it was time that I faced the truth.

            Immediately I had a strange, almost overwhelming urge to get alone with the Lord and weep before Him because of the hurt associated with my pain.  Later, when I did get to spend time talking to the Lord, I received a peace that I had not known so fully for a long time.  I felt free from much of the pain in my life.

           

Jesus’ words tell us in John 8:32, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

There is no doubt in my mind that the Lord had a “truth” meeting planned for me on that special day.  While being drawn by the Lord to face my pain, I experienced the grace of His forgiveness and tender healing of my heart.  You see, deep down, I had blamed the Lord for a lot of my pain.

            In my life, what I wanted was for others to lie to me and tell me that I was OK.  Usually people cooperated with my act very well and encouraged me that all was great, but really, the truth is, I was just hiding and managing all my pain.

            Apparently, the Lord loved me too much to leave me hurting in the way that I was, so He called me out to face it.  In His kind, gentle way, He soothed my hurting heart and healed much of my pain.

            Oh, now don’t get me wrong!  There is no doubt that I still have issues (probably a lot of the same ones as you), but now I am learning to run to the Lord for His forgiveness and healing of my heart.  There is nothing else like it.

Jesus said these beautiful words to us:

            “I am the way, the truth, and the life…”

            “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

He is willing to set you free from your pain also……are you ready for your “truth” meeting?  Just go to Him with an honest, open heart.