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….
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| You Pick - Truth... OR... Dare? |
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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