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“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

Tis the season to shop, shop and shop. Love looking for great bargains especially at new places. Just spent a Saturday exploring a mall in a neighboring state. Grand tree decked out beautifully invited us in. Icicle lights dancing down from the ceiling – exquisite at dark. And that was just the beginning; Christmas was everywhere.

Right in the midst of calm and bright, I heard voices loud, strong and violent. Approaching the entrance to one of the stores, my view unveiled something I’d never seen before. Two ladies were screaming, kicking, and fighting off cops. From my initial perspective injustice seemed to beckon questions like, “What in the world was going on? Why are they treating these ladies like this?” The struggle was real, the screams penetrating. Handcuffed and taken away, the truth finally surfaced. Backpacks lay scattered on the marbled floor revealing stuff missing, stolen from the store.

Amazing how the truth can get so lost and twisted. What we see first isn’t always the whole story. We get blind sighted by our convinced view and quickly jump to conclusions. We choose sides. We listen to media and draw our circle. We entertain convincing tweets and posts. And all the while, we often miss the total picture.

At first glance, I thought the cops were rude, harsh and wrong. A closer look, and I saw the evidence – the truth of these ladies’ actions surrounded them. Things were not as they seemed. My assumptions were far from the truth.

Wonder how many times we have made decisions based on less than the truth? Happens ever so easily. Perhaps we’ve drawn conclusions that excuse away the digging deep to uncover the facts, Maybe familiarity with the situation or people causes us to lean in a direction that denies reality.

Perfect solution – pause for the facts. Avoid gravitating towards assumptions. Prayerfully ask God to reveal truth to us – He will if we ask Him and then patiently wait for Him to put all the pieces together.

“Father, truth seems to be elusive today – help us to release our preconceived ideas and embrace Your truth which always serves us well.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life