“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist…”
Ephesians 6:14a
truth noun
the truth : the real facts about something : the things that are true
: the quality or state of being true
: a statement or idea that is true or accepted as true
My feelings are trying to hijack my life. It’s as if my head, which is full of the facts that are true and unchanging, hasn’t told my heart that it’s all going to be okay. I think my heart needs an interpreter. Someone who can take what I know to be true and get it into my chest in such a way that my heart accepts the knowledge. Helping to temper my feelings, my emotions and all the other human tendencies that come when the waters of life get choppy.
My heart needs to get the memo. Read the memo. Eat the memo. Then, pat its belly with the satisfaction that comes after ingesting a wonderful meal.
Do you ever have so many “what if’s” pinging around your head that you push yourself into a panic? Or tears. Or a general brain fog?
Emotions aren’t a bad thing. They’re a gift, actually. They’re an indicator that something is off. A prompt to pop open the hood of our hearts and see what’s going on in there.
A gauge.
But not a guide.
We all have our own stuff to walk through, but at the center of everything, there is truth. Black and white. Unchanging, unwavering, stand the test of time truth.
You can’t be “kinda” pregnant, your car can’t be “barely out of gas” and the truth can’t be “kinda true”.
Truth is truth. It cannot be sanded down, added to or muddied out. It stands alone and will never fail to be right.
In the book of Ephesians, Paul gives a nod to the difficulties we will face and tells us to suit up for battle. To put on the full armor of God. He starts by instructing us to buckle God’s Truth around our waist.
I was reading about weightlifting belts. They’re big and wide with large buckles on them. Strap one on when you have heavy weights to lift, and you’ve done your body a great service.
Not only will the belt help protect parts of your body, but it will also help your performance.
A weightlifter understands that in order to keep your back from hyper extending, you need to take in a big breath before bending down to pick up that weight bar. That deep belly breath will push into the belt, which in turn pushes back into your abs, causing that inter abdominal pressure to protect your back even more.
This is what the Truth does for the believer. But, we can’t just know about it, we have to put it into practice.
Like those weightlifting belts.
We can’t leave it lying on the floor when we are lifting heavy weights.
When we’re toting around fear of a job loss. Worry over a sick child. Grief from a deep loss. Concerns for our loved ones. A failing marriage. An addiction.
The truth will only protect us and work for us if we pick it up off the carpet, acknowledge that it is the only truth we need, and feed our minds with it.
God says His Spirit is living water John 7:37-39.
Perhaps the reason our minds don’t tell our hearts the truths our tender places need to hear is because we are a little dehydrated. We have this Living Water, that if poured into our minds, will make its way down to our hearts.
The Word of God will saturate our feelings and emotions with the things we can count on rather than the problems and scenarios we are counting up.
Let’s drink the Water.
Drink it until it sloshes around in our bellies so loudly that others can hear it.
Strap on your belts ladies. Buckle them tightly. Drink up and allow God’s Word to fill you up. Let the truth not only protect you, but fight for you.
The truth will never fail you.
Blessings,
Kellie
A step further:
Here are a few reminders of the Truth…
*He promises to never leave nor forsake us – Hebrews 13:5
*He promises to finish the work He has started in us – Philippians 1:6
*He promises to give us wisdom when we ask – James 1:5
*His Word helps our hearts discern the truth – Hebrews 4:12
*He provides rest for the weary and burdened – Matthew 11:28-29
Simple Faith 