Which truth do we fuel?
We walk in the middle of truths that are hard to take on, don’t we? On the one hand, we know just how evil devastates. Though the legal system, given their sentencing guidelines for pedophiles, deems their crime relatively painless, we suffer for a lifetime with control issues; self-doubt and self-hatred; skewed perceptions of self, men, women, children, God, the world; anger; PTSD; addiction. Evil impacts us in profound ways.
On the other hand, however, there is God and all that comes with God: goodness, grace, wisdom. Depending upon our awareness of (and our cooperation with) this goodness, grace, and wisdom within us, the impact of evil — no matter how devastating — pales. Consider 9/11. We stood horrified as most of us watched the planes hit. The evil took away our collective breath. But, then, what happened? People flew into action. People fueled by the goodness, grace, and wisdom of God within them responded. And, though the impact remained and will forever remain, we gathered our arms around our dead and wounded, and we rose above evil’s flow.
It is a choice for each of us. I can focus on my wounds — a self that remains shattered in ways; the nightmares that still come; the flashbacks that still haunt. I can allow the sorrow of these to weigh me down until I move with complaint, with cynicism, with suspicion. Or, I can focus on the God within me who is showing me in detail how He was present throughout, how He protected me throughout, and who is with me now, that goodness, grace, and wisdom in buckets for my using. This focus, by the way, leaves me empowered, joyful, motivated to see beyond, and at peace.
Both are true: evil hurts; and, God is present. Evil is loud, boisterous, desperate. Each time we choose God, however, evil loses a bit of its volume, and we learn just how powerful we are when we walk in the truth of God.
Reflection
In what ways are you aware of goodness, grace, and wisdom — their persistent whisper — within you? How might you fuel this whisper instead of the remnants of your suffering?
Prayer
O God, I can rage! I can complain! I can cry over my wounds and the wounds of others! But, I know this rage, this complaint, these tears are not all there is. There is another truth, a far more powerful truth. I know well how to exist within the truth of evil and its impact. Let me know learn how to exist — and thrive — within the truth of You.
“Choose life…” (Deuteronomy 30:19)