Things that are true stand the test of time.

Things that are true can hold their own against doubts and misgivings.

Things that are true will not be washed away in the flood of popular opinion or made untrue by lies.

The truth will be there when all else is exposed for the nothing it actually is.

I love the stories of atheist journalist Lee Strobel and atheist detective J. Warner Wallace who set out to disprove Christianity using their investigatory skills. In the end, they found the evidence for Jesus to be undeniable and irrefutable. Both men became followers of Christ.

You see, faith isn’t believing just because other people tell you to. It is testing the evidence in front of you. When all the pieces fit together, when you’ve kicked the tires and driven it through the mud, that’s when you allow your guard to come down and you feel safe to trust what you now know is true.

In the case of Christianity, the Holy Spirit enables us to believe but, wait, that’s not all! From the evidence of creation, the confirmation of logic, and the reassurance of experience, our faith is proved true time and time again.

There are people who will never believe in Christianity. There are also those who once said they believed but have walked away from God.

This isn’t because God doesn’t exist. He obviously exists. Watch your body heal its own wound and tell me you “evolved” to be able to do that. We would never have made it! It’s not even because they think they can disprove Jesus! Historically, that argument doesn’t hold water. And if he didn’t rise from the dead those who were closest to him wouldn’t have gone to their executions holding fast to their profession of faith.

I think a lot of times when people refuse to see the truth, it is because they are holding on to their idea of what the truth “should” be, rather than what it actually is. They want truth to align with their preferences, and rather than sort out what they might need to change or let go of if God is who he says, they find a reason to say he’s not.

I’ve had doubts! We all have! But that’s when we go back to the facts, and all that we do know for sure allows us to trust when we can’t quite understand what God is doing or why he allows certain things. Doubts are just feelings and they don’t negate truth. So don’t be afraid to look honestly at them! If God is real, he will still be there when you’ve gotten through your questions.

He’s always been there when I’ve gotten through mine.

Truth doesn’t change just because we don’t like it, or because it challenges our perspective or way of life.

We live in a culture that says “Listen to me! My feelings tell me this is truth, so THIS IS TRUTH! Yay!”

Test what culture is saying. Do the facts support it? Biology? Past experience?

Now test what God says.

He says the human heart is desperately sick. He says we all have gone astray and we love our sin. He says he loves us anyway. He says the only way to be reconciled to himself is through repentance and faith in Jesus’ death on the cross. He says without his forgiveness, we will die in our wickedness and spend eternity apart from him.

As I look out into the world, I see the hand of the Creator in the vibrantly colored autumn mums and in the face of my smiling neighbor walking her two boys to the bus stop. I scan the news articles and see the human heart indeed is wicked and, apart from God, seeks only its own welfare. I look into my own life and remember the countless times God has shown himself faithful.

There are many things to be skeptical of these days. We must use fact-based evidence, logic, and experience to navigate our way through.

The truth will prevail.

God is on his throne.

Angela