How do you face the day with your heart revived?
When my friend Katie asked a group of us this thoughtful question, I pondered the many times and various forms of this question I’ve asked myself over the years. Back then, the answer remained elusive. But after enduring numerous sorrows that ranged from losing treasured trinkets to treasured family members, as I studied God’s Word, the answer to Katie’s question sprang up.
“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)
And . . .
Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything;
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18)
Let’s consider these verses and discover how they answer Katie’s question—and fill our hearts with great hope.
You Will Know the Truth
What does it mean to “know the truth”? Jesus said that God’s Word is truth (John 17:17), but the devil knows God’s Word. In fact, he knows Scripture better than the average Christian, and he’s no closer to being free from sin, evil, or eternal condemnation than he was when he first embraced his rebellion against God. The Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus could quote whole books of Scripture.
Knowing the truth involves understanding and believing the truth. Surrendering to God’s Word is essential. When Jesus promised the crowd they’d know the truth and the truth would set them free, He was speaking to the Jews who believed in Him (John 8:31–32). He wasn’t speaking to the unbelieving religious leaders most likely standing nearby with flaring nostrils and a permanent scowl while plots to kill Jesus swirled in their minds. They heard but didn’t believe the truth they heard.
Belief in the truth changes everything . . . which I found especially helpful when a doctor walked toward my knee with a syringe. . . .
Know the Truth, Reject the Lies
For five months, my angry and swollen knee ached from strained ligaments and a frayed meniscus tear, so my orthopedist ordered a shot of cortisone in my knee. Did I mention the shot was to go in my knee?
When the doctor noticed my trembling, she said, “It’s not that bad. I promise.”
I shook my head. “I think you underestimate my fear of needles.”
She offered more words of encouragement as I laid back and prepared for the “little sting.” My emotions told me to jump up and run out of the room, but my gimpy knee made that impossible.
I could have tried to psych myself out. I’m not afraid of needles. I’m not afraid of needles. I’m not afraid of needles. But that would have been a lie.
Instead, I decided to focus on the truth—specifically Habakkuk 3:19. “The LORD my Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights!” (Or endure a shot of cortisone in my knee.)
I took a deep breath and prayed out loud, “I will be brave because the Lord is my strength.”
The doctor chimed in. “Yes, He is!”
As I chose to believe the truth that cannot fail (God’s Word), the peace of Christ calmed my nerves.
Even if it had felt like the doctor was shooting explosives into my knee, I knew that the Lord was my strength. In Christ, I could face my minor trial with major peace.
His peace indeed filled my soul—just in time.
Scripture Testifies to the Truth
Scripture testifies that all truth comes from God and God alone because He is the truth. Anything we know that is true finds its source in God, including the laws of math, science, and nature—which our triune God created.
Hebrews teaches us that everything God says in His Word is trustworthy and true. “So that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6:18, emphasis mine).
Jesus taught His disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him” (John 14:6–7).
Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit to His disciples when He said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).
When Jesus spoke of Satan, however, He said “he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Satan not only denies the truth, he sets up his lies as truth. Without Christ’s Spirit in us and God’s Word as our guide, we’ll likely buy Satan’s lies because they satisfy the sinful nature. As children of God, the temptation to believe a lie can still be strong, but the Holy Spirit empowers us to reject sin’s tyranny and Satan’s lies. Christ has set us free to rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in everything—no matter what.
No Matter What
After my cortisone shot and the tumultuous week that followed, Katie’s question returned to my mind often.
How do you face the day with your heart revived?
I face it with the truth—no matter what my emotions demand.
Like on the day I sat in a memorial service for our friends’ beloved son and clung to the truth about God. “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds” (Psalm 147:3). Christ and His faithful Word held my friends strong too—no matter what.
Or the time when a friend told me of her medical diagnosis that suggested she might be called to endure intense and prolonged pain, I believed the truth. She did too—no matter what. “Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us” (Eph. 3:20).
When another friend faced a heart wrenching separation from his young son through uncontrollable circumstances, he believed the truth of God’s faithfulness to him and his son—no matter what.
I would have despaired unless I had
believed that I would see the
goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living. (Psalm 27:13 NASB1995)
As we come to know and believe the truth in our hearts, the truth sets us free from sin’s power over us. It frees us from worry, pride, and anger, and empowers us to do what we might believe impossible—to rejoice no matter what, pray with our every breath, and give thanks to God in every situation.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me? (Psalm 56:4)
When we know and believe the truth, the truth we know and believe sets us free to rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks. This is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus.
Will You Believe?
Now I want to ask you the same question Katie asked us.
How do you face the day with your heart revived?
I pray the answer will spring up in your mind with great hope and joy each morning as quickly as if you’d just heard someone ask, “Who wants coffee?” (Or your favorite treat to start your day.)
I pray you’ll believe the truth. Christ’s promises radiate assurance and daily hope because our freedom from fear, anger, and sin doesn’t depend on us. We don’t set ourselves free. The truth sets us free—when we believe it. Will you?
If we neglect to read and study Scripture (the truth of God’s Word), what we learn will only be what we glean from other’s teachings. Even if we learn from the brightest theologians, our memory is far from flawless—and theologians aren’t flawless either, but God’s Word is.
Let’s learn from others, but first and foremost, let’s study God’s Word ourselves so we can come to know and believe the truth.
When you wake up to a day that tests your resolve to know and believe the truth, remember that God’s promises are stronger than your trials—and your resolve. (By the way, the doctor didn’t lie. The shot really wasn’t that bad.)
Whether we’re facing imagined or exceedingly real trials and terrors, the truth brings us great hope because it sets us free—free to rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in everything. “He who calls you is faithful; he will do it” (1 Thess. 5:24).
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