Fact vs. Truth

Disclaimer: I’m not saying to ignore medical advice. I’m saying don’t make medical advice your savior. Facts are great. Truth is better. Sometimes they’re the same, sometimes they are very very different. 

Anyone will tell you not to read the testimonies on the internet. Don’t google your symptoms, don’t check online doctors or ask your neighbor’s best friend on social media. 

They’re probably all right. But we all do it. 

“I think the more you know the harder it is to have faith” my friend told me. 

I can’t say she’s wrong. The more “evidence” we gather and add to the facts. The harder it is to trust the truth. We gather and gather.

We say we’re being diligent…but really we’re opening ourselves up to the enemy’s seeds of doubt. Which we water with evidence and google searches, rumors, fear mongering. Is diligence really listening to what the enemy says unfiltered?

And…when we’re being “diligent” are we spending equal time in prayer and the word looking for what the Lord has to say about our situation? 

What we magnify we glorify.

If we spend our whole days magnifying symptoms on search after search, we will see every result on the internet search after search. 

We will also see every conclusion on the internet. I will tell you from experience that you won’t see a lot of stories about standing in faith against all odds. They are powerful testimonies, but they don’t come up under a symptom search.

So in our endless searches for outcomes we like, more information, and satisfying answers… we end up magnifying the very thing we are afraid of. 

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy than your whole body will be full of light.” Matthew 6:22 

Yep. Quoting the same verse from last week. What we look and take in is important. It shapes our days and hours and minutes. 

How much time do we spend worrying, or fretting over things we couldn’t control anyway? 

If we spent half that time praying how many mountains would move?

God never stops speaking… but we stop listening. We start putting more energy into the distractions and worries of the world and never go back to God for further study. 

Until we get desperate enough to look away from the “facts.” 

I know many of us are dealing with a lot right now, the facts are overwhelming and true. They are brutal and heartbreaking and real. We have lost jobs, people, finances, friendships, security and health. Some of it is too real for us to comprehend. I’m not saying they aren’t real circumstances, I just want to caution us not to make our circumstances and battles bigger or “more real” than God. 

Facts are in front of us, Truth is within us.

Facts are the physical, tangible, ‘I can prove it to you’ things. Circumstances that exist outside our heads that we can see.

The truth is… God can do the impossible. It’s where He shows up best! God can do what the facts say no one can. 

Their “facts” weren’t relevant when TRUTH stepped in. 

David should never have been able to take down Goliath. It was impossible. 

Esther should have been killed for going into the king’s presence. She wasn’t. 

Samuel should have never been born. He was. 

The Israelites should have starved in the desert. They didn’t.

Daniel, Jonah, Ezekiel… all the big names of scripture and all the little ones. Their facts weren’t relevant when TRUTH stepped in.

And this week, I am tired of being pushed around by “fact.” 

I’ll take that “fact” and raise you Jesus. 

In order to do that, I have to turn my back on the facts that I fear I have to stake my claim in Truth. Not my opinion, or what is true right now, but True, unwavering truth.

I don’t have the luxury of looking around or walking in “what if” I can’t stand on both sides and take half the reward no matter the outcome. I have to choose. I cannot be double minded. I look this fear in the face… and I say “but God.” 

Where I’m walking there is only one outcome that I want. He knows why, what and when. I trust Him to navigate.

Have you ever heard someone say, “I wouldn’t get my hopes up”

I wouldn’t get my hopes up either… but I will put my hopes in Jesus.

This world is shaking, truth moves and changes by the hour, but TRUTH, the I AM, He is the same yesterday today and tomorrow. We need that stability in our lives. 

I will trust that He is who He says He is. 

We need to stop getting stuck on the facts and magnify the truth and walk in it. If I sound a little bossy today, well… I am. I am standing on the truth and letting Him defend me. 

And I’m inviting you to join me. Lay that worry down, that fear down. Hold everything in your life with an open palm—it’s all His anyway. When we surrender it all and trust Him with it. We can stop spinning and choose where to stand. 

~

Lord, I confess I struggle to trust you when I’m looking at the facts in the world around me. It seems so scary at times. I know I should have faith, but I’m struggling. Lord, help my unbelief. Raise me up so I can see with Your perspective. Help me to see that fear is a threat to the peace that you alone can give. 

Today I exchange that fear and worry for Your truth. I will not hide from the world or my circumstances. I will give them to You and trust You to lead me. Today I accept you as my Lord and savior. I want Your truth. I believe in the power of the cross and that you overcame the power of death when you rose. I accept that truth and from now on I will seek your face and learn to walk in Your ways. 

When I am afraid I will put on the garment of praise, for You have never let me down. Even before I knew You, You were pursuing me. Thank you. I will sing praises of what you have done, and declare the promises You have given over my life. I will stand in the authority You have given me through Christ Jesus. Jesus I want to walk with you. Open your words to me and show me another way. In Jesus Name, Amen.