Truth’s Pathway

Truth always comes to the forefront regardless of the path. The only hindrance to truth are the ears that receive it.

A good friend of mine, a brother in Christ, has unwittingly challenged me. He told me a story of a man that replicated Noah’s Ark. One question this man was asked is, “How did all those animals fit onto the Ark?” Mathematically speaking there was not enough space. So the man claimed that God only brought species of animals onto the Ark. I will assume that once the animals left the Ark, they diversified over a long period of time to create the variety of animals that we have today.

Further, when the builder of this Ark was challenged to justify his claim that God placed only species of animals inside the Ark, the man responded by saying that he “just knows.”

So is this man a nut for claiming he just knows? I have sympathy for this person. He completed something that he felt God instructed, and he just knows something he cannot explain how he knows.

So allow me to share a true personal story with you that is well documented. Several years ago at my place of worship I saw something, a building defect. It was a serious defect to the point I just knew it was going to lead to a disaster. But others did not see it. In fact, nobody else saw it including an engineering firm so my concern was discounted. I was even labeled and mildly mocked. I was not a building engineer, so who am I to suggest such a thing? Over a year or so of questioning my own sanity and experiencing anxiety, I gave up. In fact, I gave up a few times trying to convince others to see what I knew was true. But then I became determined to give up; I was tired of the struggle. I said to God that I was done trying and I meant it this time. However God showed me something else. He showed me how this was not about me; but instead, it was about others. Seeing what He showed me, I then became 100% determined to not give up.

So with a renewed determination, I continued. Eventually the church leadership decided to pay two separate engineering firms to inspect the building. We were finally going to have resolution one way or the other. Both engineering firms confirmed my fear; there was a serious defect in the building structure. So how did I know? Because God showed me.

Now getting back to the gentleman who built a replica of Noah’s Ark and his claim that he “just knows”. Is he a nut? I lean towards saying, no. Maybe God did just as the man described; God only used species and that is how all the animals fit inside the Ark.

And what about Noah? Was he a nut for building a ship in the middle of dry terrain? Noah spent years and years and years building while being persecuted as a nut. Which person would we be if we were Noah’s neighbor? Would we be the one who offered the nut nails to help him build his boat, or would we be one of many to mock the builder?

For me, I closely associate myself with the Apostle Paul. Why? Because I write, and what I write is foreign to many, including myself. We accept Paul of the Bible, but would we accept Paul if he was here in our lifetime? We do not accept anybody in our lifetime who may be Paul. So for me, I say to myself, “Am I a nut?” I am overly self critical of myself and what I do. God could not have picked a worse person for the job. Where does this stuff I write come from? I know it is not from me. I know that, but try and convince others of the same. It is difficult. So I just write. But inside of me I scream out, “LISTEN!”

Jesus was told not to preach in His hometown. Why? Because people knew Him at a personal level. Why is it so difficult for us to consider believing a familiar person who speaks the unfamiliar?

The Book of Revelation contained in the Bible was transcribed by a person named John (not the same person as John the Disciple). If this same John were to be walking around today proclaiming the words of Revelation, we’d consider him a nut. But yet preachers preach about what this John wrote; assuming the preacher has the courage to preach about judgment.

My biggest fear is demeaning who God is by allowing my own human endeavors to intervene into what I write. Only when I am at peace with what I write do I send it out. Because when God says, “It is time”, then I know my writing is not from me, but from Him.

This is my struggle, but how can you know what is the truth? At the very least, you are to consider that what you are being shown is the truth. Does it make sense to reject the truth based on how it is delivered? Is truth any less truthful if it is given to us by a person named John, or Paul, or Christ? Therefore, consider that God is working in our world today just as He did thousands of years ago.

Each of us has a choice; and it’s always the same choice. To go to the Spirit given to us by Christ, reflect, and then listen for what God is making known to each of us.

In God’s glory only.