Tuesday, November 2, 2010

And The {Truth} Will Set You Free

..."Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”... -John 8:32

This verse very aptly describes the latter part of last week for me. Both boys ended being sick, seems they share germs as well as love and they both had some upper respiratory issues and double ear infections. The early to mid part of the week I was really struggling with them being sick. Not just from being worn out from sleepless nights, but from an unhealthy fear that I was going to lose them...they were far from being that sick, but my mind had me convinced that things were worse than they really were. I was having a hard time eating, I felt an ache in the pit of my stomach every time they coughed and I was overall just being eaten away by my fear. It wasn't fun.

Then, I think on Wednesday, I called my mom. I was crying, felt totally out of control of the situation (which I was) and just needed some advice and encouragement. I can't remember the exact words that my mom said, but the gist of it was that I needed to focus on truth. I was letting my emotions control me, and I was listening to lies that were leading me down a scary path. I was trying to get my emotions under control, but nothing was working because I still was not focusing on what was true. My mom gave me some practical advice, true things to think of, and asked me what lies I was believing about the situation. Seems so simple, and yet it totally changed my perspective, and once I began to focus on the truth the lies weren't able to permeate my mind.

This "new" revelation of focusing on truth has truly been life changing. I mean, seriously life changing. Once I began to focus on the truth...that Jesus was watching over my babies, that kids do get sick and that it's actually good for them to in order to build up immunities, that we were on top of the situation by addressing their illnesses with prompt medical care and the necessary medications, etc...the lies that had me nearly paralyzed were unable to enter my mind and render me frozen in fear. And, once I was able to focus on truth my emotions began to change. Instead of being fearful and scared I was able to just spend time being compassionate to my two precious boys, I could carry on with our daily activities and not just pace the house feeling all out of control and crazy. The truth has truly set me free, and this principle of focusing on truth has carried over into other areas of my life already as well. When I'm tempted to feel sorry for myself about one situation or another all I have to do is to think about the truth of the situation and poof, those lies that try to wedge their way into my life get squashed...and it's hard to feel sorry for myself when truth is staring me in the face. Truly amazing!

Anyways, I just wanted to share my experience with {Truth}...and of course, just as a reminder to everyone of WHO truth is...Jesus! He IS The Way...The Truth...and The Life. Without Him there is nothing, and we can only know truth because of Him.

Happy Tuesday!

*Grace*

2 comments:

Gail said...

Gracie, it made me so happy to talk with you yesterday...and now to read this post about how the truth is setting you free! Praise God for His goodness...and for putting Mom in your life to share His truth. ;0) Yay!

Love you lots,

Gail

Ivy said...

Amen, Grace! You are absolutely right. And I totally identify with you! I have had situations in my life that have overtaken me into believing lies. The world is a deceptive place and its lies creep into us even when we are trying to be careful. The only thing that can be done is to combat it with truth. (I was actually even planning on writing a post on this very thing myself!) And "life changing" is indeed the phrase...truth is the only thing that can "truly" change lives. I am glad you have found some encouragement.