It seems no matter where I look or whom I am listening to, I hear people speaking about confusion. So often I hear the words, “I am so confused!” It would be one thing if it related to the news headlines that bombard us from every source, but it doesn’t stop there.

Over and over again I hear it about “the big rocks” like values, principles, beliefs, and choices. I hear it as well from brothers and sisters in the body as they appear to be trying to sort out what they believe about what their faith rests upon or how to apply it to the postmodern world we live in.

A dictionary gives the following definition of confusion: “lack of understanding; uncertainty; a situation of panic or breakdown of order; a disorderly jumble; or the state of being bewildered or unclear in one’s mind about something.”

Yikes! If that definition is accurate, what does that say about us, about me? Have I, have we, lost all of our moorings? Where has all this confusion come from and why is it such a major factor in our lives?

My thoughts quickly recall Paul’s words:

“For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace…”

I Corinthians 14:33a (ESV)

Those words clearly tell me that the confusion is not from God, but what is the true source? What is the root?

I was blessed to hear a sermon at our son’s church by his pastor whom I greatly respect. Tucked into the message, he answered the question I just shared with you:

“Confusion comes from rebellion, idolatry, and self-devotion. Where these three are, there will be confusion in an individual or a nation.”

Pastor Steve Berger, Grace Chapel, Leiper’s Fork, TN

As I heard those riveting words, I knew he had nailed it.

I think we have been looking in all the wrong places to resolve the matter of confusion. It can be far easier to look and point to so many things, people, and institutions as the source or fault of the problem and they may well bear some blame or even a great deal of blame, but I think we/I need to look a bit closer to home first.

Institutions, businesses, organizations, and nations are made up of and guided by individuals. If individuals are not grounded in the truth of who they are and whose they are, they will surely fall prey to spreading the confusion in them throughout whatever entity of which they are a part.

The enemy (Satan) is an expert in rebellion, and he exports it regularly into humanity.

It started in Eden, but he has not stopped with Eden. We see that beyond Genesis throughout the entire Bible, but it didn’t end when John finished writing Revelation.

Something inside us rankles at the possibility of constraint of our own desires to do whatever we want when we want. We call for freedom when often we are really rebelling against a set of values and principles that do not suit us at the moment.

It happens in little ways all the time and dulls us to its influence. It happens when we choose to go a little faster than the speed limit says because the limit doesn’t make sense to us or we are in a hurry for our busy life. It happens when our doctor has warned us that we cannot continue to eat certain things because of one health condition or another and yet we do it any way.

Rebellion? Yes, we are all guilty to one degree or another. Then Satan accuses us of the very thing he has tempted us to do and fogs our understanding of how we got into the accident, the emergency room, or wherever else the rebellion may lead us. And make no mistake: rebellion is deadly.

God speaks through Samuel to Saul:

“For rebellion is as the sin of divination (witchcraft in King James), and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry…”

1 Samuel 15:23a (ESV)

So perhaps you can agree about the issue of rebellion, but idolatry? That might be tougher to swallow.

We immediately think of bowing to idols of stone, actual objects that are revered and imbued with power in our own belief system but looking at the meaning more closely might give us pause. Idolatry also is defined as “extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone”.

When those things exist, we may well be tempted to do or become anything to please or appease that something or someone and leave the truth of who we are behind without recognizing we have been seduced once again to put someone other than the Lord in first place in our hearts.

It can so often happen as believers as we “look up to” and then move a step further in our devotion to a pastor or Christian leader that we overly-idealize and then follow without question.

Perhaps that makes the line easier to see the issue of self-devotion. We are far more devoted to ourselves than we may recognize. We want what is convenient to us and what we like far too often versus what is best for us or what is right. We want what will boost our position more than how we support and lift up someone else. We want. We believe we deserve.

How is it that we can so easily find ourselves lost somewhere along “the yellow brick road”? Have we really fallen prey to the magical devices of the wizard?

I cannot answer that for you, but the sobering reality the pastor’s words have created for me is the importance of the absolute unshakable foundation I must daily stand on.

That foundation is God’s Word. It answers all the questions and gives the only hope. It points to mercy and grace. It gives light and truth to the darkness of this world.

How much I immerse myself in that foundation determines how successful I will be in fending off confusion. I am the one who is responsible to secure and defend that foundation with the help of the Holy Spirit. I am the one who is responsible to place myself under the wise teaching of a pastor whose messages are centered on that Word. But that does not change my personal responsibility to read and study to strengthen that foundation.

Are we willing to face the source of confusion and be God’s change agents to defeat it?

If so, how would that change our circle of relationships, our church, or even our nation?

*I first wrote and published this post in May of 2017, but as I was seeking the Lord about what to post today He led me to share this one again.

If we are going to truly pursue truth, we must decide where truth is found and go to that as the source. We sometimes blindly trust someone or some source in our eagerness to get affirmation for what we want or believe. If we have a history that proves that is a trustworthy path, that can be a good option for us. The problem is that more often than not none of us take a lot of time to research the accuracy of that or if the person or source is well-versed on the question at hand. (None of us are on everything.)

“Why do we swallow the lies? Why do we find it so difficult to accept the truth? Because we are looking for bargains. We want shortcuts. There are no easy ways. There is only one way. If we are going to be complete human beings, we are going to have to do it with God. We will have to be rescued from these despotic egos that reduce us to something less than human. We will have to expose the life of self-centeredness and proclaim the truth of God-centeredness.”

Eugene Peterson in Run with the Horses

We may agree with Peterson and nod our heads, but perhaps we need to take a moment before we do and read it again to grasp what he is really saying. How much of our self-sufficiency and pride will need to be crucified to do it? That old DNA born of our sin-nature can and does creep in unnoticed on more occasions than we might think.

Many of us believe that the Lord and the Bible are the source of absolute truth. More often than not on many of the big issues we face, big decisions placed before us, we will give time to ask the Lord, pray about what would be the best choice. But are we willing to wait on an answer? (If we are honest, we are not as good at that and especially not if we have already waited.)

On what we consider to be “small things” or ones that seem more abstract and less personal, asking the Lord or checking out scripture may not even cross our minds. We either think it is too small to ask or we think we know! I get that! I am guilty as well, but the tricky thing is that sometimes we don’t know that we don’t know.

And that is where we fall prey to what can upend us and the peace we believed we had before “it” cropped up and things got murky and we didn’t seek the Lord’s wise counsel. We may even be unsure of what has disturbed the peace we had previously. We can mistake the truth about peace.

“Yes, God gives us peace. But it is not a peace that gets along with everyone by avoiding the hint of anything unpleasant. It is not a peace achieved by refusing to talk about painful subjects or touch sore spots. It is a peace that is hard won by learning to pray. There is evil to combat, apathy to defeat, dullness to challenge, ambition to confront.”

Eugene Peterson in Run with the Horses

It’s also true that sometimes the truth is painful, or pinches and we may not feel “comfortable” and then believe we have no peace.

“Truth is inward: we must experience within ourselves that which we profess.”

Eugene Peterson in Run with the Horses

Ouch! Eugene Peterson nails it for us.

If we could/would just learn to ask first, we could reduce so many side trails, so many shocks and disappointments along the way. Do we fail to believe God is good and expect He will withhold anything good from us? Have we judged Him based on what we see in our brothers and sisters oftentimes? Or do we suspect He may not agree with our preference?

There are ample examples of what can happen when we fail to seek the Lord about decisions (forgetting that we are accountable for our choices in all matters, not just moral ones). One of my favorites is found in the Old Testament book of Joshua.

The book begins with Joshua assuming leadership for the children of Israel after Moses dies. It is his calling to finally move this people into the land God promised to them. He was found faithful when he and others were sent to spy out this new land they would be given by God. His faithfulness pointed to him as a leader. Now he was to secure the land that lay before them on the other side of the Jordan River.

This new land is already occupied by nations that do not believe in God so throughout the book of Joshua we will watch battles with Joshua as a warrior leading these former slaves who are God’s chosen people. The great adventure of reading Joshua is seeing how it is really God who is the “general” commanding Joshua and leading in specific ways for defeating enemies and cities of all kinds in varied ways. (There is a lot more to discover beyond the walls falling down around Jericho.)

Success depended on obedience to what God directed and only when and if they asked the Lord and followed Him could that be certain. (I think that might not just apply to them.)

The learning process regarding this key fact has been tested more than once when we arrive at the ninth chapter and read the story of the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites had already heard of the defeat of other nations and peoples so they determined to scheme to avoid their own defeat.

They wore clothing and equipped themselves with things that appeared old and well-worn when they met Joshua and then wove their deceit. They told him that they had come from a far-off land and were not a part of this “promised land” that was to be conquered. Joshua and the leaders of Israel fell for the lie. It sounded plausible and they looked as if they had been traveling from a great distance. They didn’t ask God and entered into a covenant with some of the very people whose purposes were to undo them.

They were in league with the enemy because they failed to ask God if these were trustworthy people.

How often have we done likewise?

Did we ask Him about whether this was a good person to date, hire, or buy a car from? Did we ask Him if what we were told was true? Did we ask Him if what we were reading or watching was good for us? Did we ask Him who to vote for, what position to take, whether or not to move?

Did it even occur to us?

Sadly, we might blame God for something that happens while never asking Him to be a part of the situation and guide us. The word “ask” shows up repeatedly in both Old and New Testaments and it appears that even though He knows what is happening and knows us, He still wants us to ask Him.

Have we asked Him?

We heard from someone at one point or another that life was not always easy. But depending on our age at the time, it either went right over our heads or in our naiveté we were sure we could handle it. We believed (or wanted to believe) that person was just trying to scare us or cause us to doubt ourselves, but as we lived a bit longer, we discovered that life isn’t easy a great deal of the time.

“Living is difficult. There is much that goes wrong. We lay our plans carefully and things still go badly. We try to get ahead, but unaccountably something interferes, and we end up flat on our faces. Accidents. Weather. The general cussedness of life. Murphy’s law.”

Eugene Peterson in Run with the Horses

When we talk about things being difficult or hard and whether or not we have what it takes, we wonder deep within in if we can handle “it” (whatever “it” happens to be at the time). We define the “it” as the situation, but if we go just a bit deeper, we might discover the tougher question: Can we handle the truth?

Writing that question immediately brings a movie scene to mind, the 1992 legal drama film, A Few Good Men. For those of you who may have seen the movie, you know immediately the scene I refer to. The military lawyer played by Tom Cruise takes a risk by calling the commanding officer involved with the case to the stand in the trial. That commanding officer, Colonel Jessep, played by Jack Nicholson, is pressed during the intense questioning by Cruise with pithy language on both sides. Then Cruise punctuates things by telling Nicholson that he wants answers, he wants the truth, and Nicholson speaks the unforgettable lines, “You can’t handle the truth.”

It’s a movie, but in real life, what about us? Can we handle the truth?

The truth is that ever since the creation of humankind when we needed to abide by one rule of denying ourselves fruit from only one tree in the Garden of Eden and were seduced by Satan to doubt that edict, we have been prone to exchange the truth for something else that was more palatable and didn’t require us to give up something we wanted.

The consequences of that garden scene are woven into the DNA of every human being. We want things to be different than they are, believe things are better, that we are better, and those thoughts permeate most of our choices and behaviors until we determine to grapple with the truth (whatever “it” is).

One of the attributes of the Christian life is that the Lord doesn’t sugar coat the truth. He loves us too much to allow us to stay lost in deception (whether by our own choosing or not). Sadly, as the world around us grows darker, deception grows, and we have been enticed by it for so long that too many of us no longer easily discern the truth found in scriptural foundational tenets. We actually prefer the plastic fruit that looks so perfect rather than the real fruit that usually will have a mark or two on it here or there.

Paul describes the time we are living in in his second letter to Timothy:

“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”

2 Timothy 4:3 (NIV)

It is easier at the outset to believe what we prefer, what we want to hear, and say it is true whether or not it is. Satan’s subtle power works his deviousness by not letting us see the cost of choosing that path. J.R.R. Tolkien shows us that over and over again when men, elves, and dwarves seek “the one ring to rule them all” without seeing that once gained, it will destroy them.

One of the grandest things about coming to know the Lord and accepting his offer of forgiveness and grace is knowing that He sees the truth of who we really are and loves us anyway, chooses us anyway, and promises to never leave or forsake us, to dwell within us and transform our character we can NEVER accomplish on our own.

“Yes, God loves us. But his love is passionate and seeks faithful, committed love in return. God does not want tame pets to fondle and feed; he wants mature, free people who will respond to him in authentic individuality. For that to happen there must be honesty and truth. The self must be toppled from its pedestal. There must be pure hearts and clear intelligence, confession of sin and commitment in faith.”

Eugene Peterson in Run with the Horses

The prophets of old were never very popular with the people of the day because they said hard things, warned of hard things ahead that might be avoided if they accepted the truth of their waywardness, repented, and leaned on the Lord rather than the others they looked to. Sometimes they did, but many times they didn’t choose the truth.

Few things will do more to cause us to grapple with truth than love. Loving, really loving deeply, will never be easy. It will expose our weaknesses, our selfishness, and more. It will mean we face losses that we never quite expect and that will wrench our hearts in two when they occur. It will cost us something. It cost God everything so we could be free and enter into relationship with Him despite the garden consequences.

Life is difficult but being willing to see the truth will make it more bearable for us even though it seems like a paradox.

This year (2020) has exposed us to a broader view of darkness and evil, but also revealed the truth about what our foundation is and what we truly believe as well as whether we will stand on it even if we stand alone (save the Lord with us). Hopefully we now recognize something written by Kristina Morris in Bridge of Scarlet Leaves about another difficult time (WW II):

“Life goes on, despite our misfortunes.”

Kristina Morris

And in the midst of life going on, the Lord is with us, even closer than we can imagine.

“The life of faith is very physical. Being a Christian is very much a matter of the flesh – of space and time and things. It means being thrown on the potter’s wheel and shaped, our entire selves, into something useful and beautiful. And when we are not useful or beautiful we are reshaped. Painful, but worth it.”

Eugene Peterson in Run with the Horses

Can you handle it?

Can you handle the truth?

If you are the Lord’s, the answer must be “yes” because He is truth and will be in, with, and around you as you do.

In the midst of what can seem like ever increasing storms across the earth it may well seem that everything is being shaken. Storms assail every area of the globe including the little plot where each of us may live and they have come in many forms leaving us weary and wondering when it will end.

For some the longing for an end, a solution has been delayed too long. The persons, companies, political leaders, doctors, governments, clergy, and others in a list whom they believed and trusted have disappointed them. As a result, some have chosen to leave this life by his or her own hand for lack of hope. Others have chosen to escape by any means possible and others still continue to try to “live in a dream world” as if nothing is really all that bad.

Our tolerance for living in the midst of uncertainty was never very great and it has diminished in recent months. We assume we are waiting on someone or something to “make it all better” for us, but what if we have it backwards? What if God is waiting on us to awaken from our stupor created from being caught up in this life so we can discover He is waiting on us?

Waiting on us? How can that be?

We have exhausted ourselves looking for solutions from other frail mortals like us, talking to each other, listening to news we either want to hear or that those who dispense the “news” want us to hear. Over time we have been fed with things that have eroded our hope and even if believing in God, have failed to talk with Him as much as others and not sought to quiet the “noise” of all around us so we can hear Him.

One day this week as I was caught up in too many things that were weighing me down, I sensed a clear whisper in my heart that brought clarity to the path I seek. It was a verse the Lord brought to mind and echoed through every part of my being as He brought it to mind.

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses,  but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”

Psalm 20:7 (NIV)

Perhaps the Lord is trying to awaken us to our temptation to do that in this current time. News sources have been conflicting, experts’ opinions have varied, and each has created a swirling melee inside of us that seems to be unable to be relieved.

Perhaps the Lord is trying to awaken us to see the unseen warfare that is intensifying around the world, to be alert to the evil that is drawing our attention off course and dividing us within and without. Shut up from a pandemic that does not relent its pursuit of us, we may have missed what has been nibbling at the hope we have and the foundation we are to stand on.

We are missing the bigger perspective. Maybe if we could see more of the whole thing, the pattern might become clearer. Then we might see that the upheaval is not just in our own neighborhood or nation but is widespread in different places around the earth. In the midst of it the warning of Isaiah comes to mind:

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

Isaiah 5:20 (NIV)

Have we gotten turned around to a point where we have confused evil and good, light and darkness, ascribing those words to one human as compared to another, one cause compared to another? The Bible points to the truth that in “the last days” such confusion will exist on the earth. Only God knows when “the last” of “the last days” will be accomplished, but we are nearer than we once were and our wearied hearts, minds, and spirits remind us of the words echoing through J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy of The Lord of the Rings that call us to be on the alert, to stand, and not to be seduced by the ring of power that we believe will give us what we need.

Centuries upon centuries prove that power always pulls humankind off course and works corruption as it seduces us to believe we will use it for good (or that others will). It has been so since one of the chief angels of heaven lusted for power and caused the fallen world we live in but were never designed for.

Our eyes must be trained to focus on the spiritual while being alert to the world we live in that assails us each moment. It requires discipline to shut off those things, people, programs, news, and more that detract us from the position we are called to stand in based on biblical principles and values rather than use a secularized lens to which we may have succumbed.

In the end justice will prevail because God’s righteousness will require it.

It is not time for “business as usual” in any of our lives. We are called to endure, to stand, to discern when to be silent and when to speak and to remember the words of Psalm 37 which begins as follows:

“Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; ² for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.”

Psalm 37:1-2 (NIV)

But I would encourage you to read it in total because of the way it harnesses us to the truth on which we need to stand. Many verses later this priceless Psalm ends with these two verses:

“The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;  he is their stronghold in time of trouble. ⁴⁰ The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.”

Psalm 37: 39-40 (NIV)

God started the story.

He knows the ending because He has written it and He and those who trust in Him win.

The news headlines point to questions about what will happen next in numerous places around the world and sometimes our own neighborhoods. It would be so nice if we could feel certain about the future or even today. It can be easy to look for any and all ways possible to bring some level of certainty to any area of our lives.

We look for “safe” investments to offset our doubts about the future. We even read labels on food more than ever before to try to find the less risky options on the shelves of our grocery store. We avoid relationships that may not feel or be “safe” from our perspective. We grasp in subtle and not so subtle ways to gain some scrap of control over whatever we can as we recognize the decks are stacked against us in more than a few areas.

For the whole of human history, certainty has not been available. Is that why we sometimes look for it? Reassurance to find certainty in one area or another would ease anxiety.

Uncertainty permeates everything in large part because we cannot know everything about everything. Let’s face it, we can’t even know everything about one thing for certain. New information is discovered every day. People and things are in almost constant change so just when we think we are sure we have all the needed data something shifts.

It could be easy to give up on knowing. That would not be the answer, however. Even though we cannot know everything or anything wholly, it’s important to remember that knowing or learning to know, is a skill.

Skills of any kind can be improved by practice. If we persevere in our study or research, we will uncover more pieces to the puzzle, more evidence of reality, or more truth. Then we may not have absolute certainty, but our choices and decisions will be fraught with less risk and greater peace. We will learn to make fewer careless mistakes. Truth based on reality will accumulate to guide us.

To do this means we lay aside our assumptions that are likely to be faulty.

How often we later discover that we have been blind in our assumptions and judgments! To do this means we set aside the subtle belief that we know and take a humble position that we may not know. It means we see mistakes as valuable in our quest because of what new insights we gain from them.

Coming to grips with the truth that uncertainty is a “given” permeates and challenges our spiritual life many times. We live with the paradox of knowing as believers that grace grants us salvation and eternity with God while dealing with the disappointment that He does not always answer our prayers as we would wish even if we say “in Jesus name” at the end.

A major choice for each of us is whether or not we will trust the Lord no matter what the headlines shout at us, no matter what the diagnosis we hear, and no matter what the status of our employment. In reality, that is where the rubber meets the road in our faith walk.

If we trust the Lord for eternity, can we trust Him for the “now”?

To practice knowing I am reminded of the wise words of Pat Springle in his book, Trusting: The Issue at the Heart of Every Relationship. Pat uses the term “perceptive trust” in his book and defines it this way:

“Perceptive trust entails the ability to objectively discern the trustworthiness of others and the capacity to take the risk of trusting them. People who have learned to exercise perceptive trust grow in wisdom over time and through many experiences, gradually learning when, how, and whom to trust.”

Pat Springle

Yes, that definition looks at horizontal connections and relationships, but isn’t there a correlation to our vertical relationship with the Lord?

Later Pat Springle looks at how his definition fits with the Lord and he says that perceptive people “always remember that only God remains 100 percent trustworthy, as well as totally outside of their control.”

You see, uncertainty became a reality when Adam and Eve sought to know as much as God by eating the fruit from the forbidden tree. Before that fateful moment, they trusted Him. The serpent planted a seed of doubt and pride crept in and we live with the result.

Our challenge as New Testament believers is to walk in the truth of the gospel that has been clear since Old Testament days: He is and will be with us…always! Whatever certainty we have is centered in that one true reality if we call Him Savior.