The other day I was in a situation where someone wanted to show me that they could be trusted but it left doubts in my mind as I felt as if they were lying.
Instead of saying that though to them directly I told the story of Sarah:
““Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he said. Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.””
Genesis 18:9-15
The point I needed to make to that individual was that you can always lie to me and steal from me and I would never know, but you can’t hide and lie to God.
Sara thought she could!
And you know, many of us feel we can lie to God. There are secrets we keep hiding; maybe our thoughts, desires or actions. Whatever our situation may be, we think we have hidden it well and have lied to so many people but never consider that we can’t lie to God.
But what makes this story interesting is that when God confronted Sarah about her lack of faith or belief, her knee-jerk reaction was to be afraid and then lie.
How can we even think of lying to God? And to HIS face at that! Now that takes some strong guts!
In her defense though, her reaction is one that many of us would have probably had. Not only did God hear me laugh at HIS proclamation (something that man thought was impossible) but HE brought me up on it. For many of us, the first reaction would have been “Oh Oh…” The next would be “How do I get out of trouble now?”
Lying though only makes it worse.
If we can’t be honest with God about our true feelings and our actions then we really need to realize that we are in serious trouble.
Food for thought: Let’s not lie to the world and think that we are fooling God. HE is all seeing, all knowing and all powerful. HE can do the impossible … Every time!
Prayer: Jehovah Shalom (God of peace), your word tells us that we have all sinned and fallen short of your glory. But you have also provided comfort and peace knowing that we are your children and you will never forsake or leave us. May we be bold to stand before you always and seek your forgiveness, your wisdom and guidance in our life. In Jesus name. Amen
God’s grace, mercy and peace to you.
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