When I was little, I grew up in a Catholic household. We went to church every Sunday, and I even attended Catholic school. I remember learning about Jesus in school, and I was always so excited to learn about Him and things He did while He was here on earth. What I was being taught I had assumed was the truth.
What I didn’t enjoy was going to church. I never got anything out of it, and to me it was just really boring. I didn’t understand any of it. It didn’t make sense to me. Once I turned 18, I decided I no longer wanted to attend church, so I stopped. I guess you could say it was a form of rebellion. Well, I rebelled for years. I got away from the church, and I was living my life away from God. (Not a smart move by the way). I still believed in God; I just did not practice anything. The devil also believes in God, and knows the Bible. Yet he does not practice it. That is a post for another day.
Years passed by, and when I say years, it’s almost embarrassing at how long I went on without Him. But God, so patient and loving, had been working on me and I didn’t even know it.(He’s always working on us) Until He really finally got my attention. I was not just living in this world; I was living OF this world. I had been too blinded to see it.
God’s Mercy
But God, in His mercy, chose to pluck me out of my mess, and open my eyes to what was really going on, in and around me. It was like I suddenly woke up from this long nap, to a reality that seemed not so real. Oh, He woke me up to a world I didn’t think we could possibly be living in. It was like a veil was instantly removed from my eyes, and all I could see was lies and deceit around me. Things that I thought were truth, were actually lies. This was a difficult pill to swallow at first. It took a little time to really digest what I was seeing and reading about. But I wanted to know more. So, I kept digging.
See, when God created me, there was absolutely no part of me that He wanted anything to do with being fake. You know the saying “fake it until you make it?” Yeah, that wasn’t me. It was always very apparent to others what I was feeling. I couldn’t hide it. I also had a very keen sense to others that were fake. It was very difficult for me to be around these people, as I could pick them out miles away. Now, I know that to be a gift of discernment God gave me.
The Truth
I always needed to be up front about things and I expected others to be that way as well. I wanted people to be truthful; I didn’t want to see lies. Well, God started showing me more truth. Things that were going on in this world and more.
Suddenly, I had this pull to just start learning more about Him. I wasn’t looking for religion, I was looking for Him. I started watching videos of people speaking out about God and reading the Bible. Watching pastors preach online, and joining Bible study groups. One day, I was watching a woman speak on the Book of Genesis, and about Adam and Eve. As I was listening to her, I thought to myself, “ok this is great and all, but the story of Adam and Eve is just a story. It wasn’t real.” And that’s when God stepped in and said “No, that is a lie that was fed to you, and I need you to get in your Bible and read for yourself.” Ouch.
The Lies
Let’s rewind now back to when I was in Catholic school. I remember this day so vividly. We were in our religion class, and our teacher was talking about Adam and Eve. She then proceeded to tell us that it was just a story, that it wasn’t real and never really happened even though it was in the Bible.
I was 8 or 9 years old. This was shock and devastation that I felt. I thought to myself, why would God put a fake story in the Bible? The Bible is supposed to be all truth. The Word of God who is ALL truth. Why would He put a lie in the Bible? My friends were shocked by this as well, and we just didn’t know what to make of it. I was so sad that day. We were taught not to question the teacher on what they were teaching. If we did, we were labeled a troublemaker. I don’t recall anyone saying anything more about this ever again, and it just stuck with me in my head.
We were at an age where we also were finding out that Santa wasn’t real, and the tooth fairy wasn’t real, and that our parents lied to us and everyone was in on it. Now, let’s add in that we were being told a part of the Bible wasn’t real. Of course, we will believe that since we found out the other things we believed in and taught about were lies. So, this story in the Bible must have been a lie too.
But why? It didn’t make sense. It stuck in my head from 4th grade on, until the day that I was watching the woman speak about Adam and Eve.
Deceit
When God showed me that what I was told in 4th grade was a lie, and that this story was absolutely true, I was devastated all over again. I had gone on for years and years thinking it was fake. How ridiculous it was that I just took someone’s word, even though I was just a very young impressionable 9-year-old kid. Still, I took this person’s word as truth, over actually looking for confirmation of the truth myself. I was so young. I wouldn’t have thought to look into it more at that age. What a perfect time for the enemy to deceive young children. To get them to fall away from the truth, and away from God.
John 10:10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
Read The Bible For Yourself
God showed me that I needed to be in that Bible myself. I can’t just be listening to what others say whether they are pastors, teachers, seasoned theologians, friends or random Christians. I needed to be reading it for myself. God showed me that He would reveal things to me that I need to know. By relying on His word, and not just someone else’s version of His word, I know I would be getting the truth.
While it is perfectly okay to watch videos or podcasts, or listen to pastors, and I actually encourage it. We also must learn to take the things we hear back to God. Read the Bible for ourselves, see what He has to say about it, and if He confirms what we have heard was truth or not. Someone could have interpreted something wrong in their own misunderstanding, and they pass that on to you. We also must remember not everyone is working for God, and they could be leading you astray intentionally. That can be detrimental to your spiritual growth. What we are listening to and taking as truth, we must take it back to God and confirm that what you are hearing is accurate.
God Is Perfect
It doesn’t matter how seasoned of a preacher this person is, they are still human and there is room for error. The only one who is perfect is God. We must take everything to Him, and He will lead us in the right direction. His love and faithfulness to us is true.
Psalms 18:30 God’s way is perfect. All the LORD’S promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to Him for protection.
This not only goes for the Bible, but we must practice this with life in general. We need to start questioning more where things came from. For too long, we have all been naive to just take what others tell us, what history has told us, what the media has told us, what our teachers have told us, what our pastors have told us, what our doctors have told us, and assume the truth.
Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
Take Responsibility
We need to start taking a greater responsibility on seeking the truth instead of just relying on someone else’s version of the truth. The devil sends wolves in sheep’s clothing. It’s a very sad reality, and unfortunately too many of us fall into this trap and trust the wolves. We need to be mindful of who we are listening to. Look into things for ourselves, and most importantly, go to God first and seek Him for the truth. Establish that relationship with God, and there will be much less room for deceit.
I always pray and ask God for greater wisdom and discernment. Start making that a daily practice. He will come through for you. He is faithful and true.
Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.