Theological Thoughts
By, Becca Roberts
Axiom
- Rationalize the truth
- A better option is the third option
- Integrity, keeping your word
- Consider what is beneficial
“Better that you do not vow than that you vow and not fulfill it. "
Ecclesiastes 5:5
What does God do and know?
God will take you at your word. It is better not to say you will do something and then fail to fulfill it. It is not for God to fulfill what you say you will do. Keeping your word helps to stand by what is true, no matter what others tell you or what you tell yourself. As God is omniscient, there are some things He knows that He does not reveal to us, even in the face of the unexplainable, and you don't know what to do. God knows the plans and purposes for your life and can bring to light what you need to know. When you ask God, He can show you what to do.
What does it feel like to do nothing on a slow Monday?
Sitting in the breakroom at work, I stare at an empty wall. The lights cast a harrowing yellow glow throughout the noiseless room. The silence screamed that this was a slow Monday. I ate yogurt; perhaps it was strawberry yogurt. The 15 minutes on a break, I imagine, will never end. Time dragged, and I told myself I was wasting this break; I was not doing anything beneficial. It was not true that I was lazy, depressed, useless, or whatever else I told myself. The wall did not tell me what is true, nor what is one thing that I could do on a slow Monday.
I could have listened to the truth that doing one thing would have made a difference. One option could be to sit in the chair and do nothing at all; perhaps that looks like ignoring any problem, being lazy, and being unhelpful. The second option could be just to leave, abandon things altogether, and motivate myself to something else or nothing at all. The third option could have been to rationalize, responding to what I knew was true. My word does not mean that I am obligated to do everything. I could have told myself I would do one thing and that would have been enough, then followed through and did that one thing. That would be the rational thing to do.
What do you need to choose the third option?
The third option is rationalization or doing what is true. I think Oswald Chambers captures what rationalizing is when he said, “Songbirds are taught to sing in the dark…” which means that you do not need sight to see the truth and respond to it. You do not need sight to sing but ears that listen. Birds know how to sing, it is something that they listen to. The truth is there even when you cannot see it. The hope is that when you go to God, because God knows everything, He will show you what to do. The wall will not tell me what is true or what to do, but an all-knowing God can.
What is there?
There is truth in the tension. Reality is found in the middle. It is better to act on what I say I will do. In life, some things are for everyone, but not everything is beneficial for them. At times, all there is to do is act on something even when it doesn't make sense. Choosing the third option and responding to it reveals what could be beneficial. The reality is acknowledging what is beneficial to work or whatever you do. I could have prayed, asked God to show me what to do and walked around to see if there was anything I could do. That would have made all the difference. I would have stood by what is true, integrity intact. Seeing the light and the hope of the one thing I could do, and that God can show me I can do. And at the end of the day, birds already know how to sing; we don't have to make doing what we say we will do complicated. Just do it!
Prayer: God, you know all things, you know what is true and beneficial, and you must be true even when I don't keep my word. Show me what I can do; it is better to act on what I will say I will do than make excuses, be lazy, or ignore what I can do even when things don't make sense. It doesn't have to be complicated, just do it! Amen.
The Discipline Of Heeding | My Utmost For His Highest
Original publication on becwritesfaith.com
