Finding peace

^{John 14:23-27
 
23} Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
²⁵ “All this I have spoken while still with you. ²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

This is probably the time of year I dread the most. No, not winter. Winter I actually enjoy. No, the time of year I dread the most is tax time. Taxes are an unfortunate part of life. Even Jesus paid taxes, and in one instance had help from a fish.
 
Just the same, every year, the same fears assail me. Will I make a mistake on my taxes? Will I owe money? Will I owe more than I can afford? And so on and so forth. The peace I generally have little trouble grasping, suddenly flees like an elusive wisp of fog.

But then, I force myself to take a deep breath and call on the One who has always been faithful and little miracles happen; like the check I found locked in my safe yesterday that will pay for an eye doctor appointment, or the check that a kindly gentleman at church always gives to my wife and I every Christmas, or an encouraging word from a friend when I'm feeling the most lost.

this weekend is the ninth year for the annual men's retreat of the Bible Fellowship Church of Terre Hill. I've been there every year, and this year I have the privilege of sharing the blessing with my son. And there's another worry on the list; will my son embrace all the things I've tried to show him, or will they be forgotten whenever the road gets difficult?

This I know and have found to be true; God is faithful. Even when things seem at their darkest and even when I cannot see the road ahead, He has always been there and has always made a way. I look back on all the dark times in my life and every single time, He has brought me through, perhaps bruised, and perhaps crawling on my knees, but always into the Light.

There is no time so dark that the Spirit of God cannot give us light; no pit so deep that He cannot reach in and pull us out.

the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Proverbs 12:17-23

17 An honest witness tells the truth,
    but a false witness tells lies.

¹⁸ The words of the reckless pierce like swords,
    but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

¹⁹ Truthful lips endure forever,
    but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

²⁰ Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil,
    but those who promote peace have joy.

²¹ No harm overtakes the righteous,
    but the wicked have their fill of trouble.

²² The Lord detests lying lips,
    but he delights in people who are trustworthy.

²³ The prudent keep their knowledge to themselves,
    but a fool’s heart blurts out folly.

My dad used to tell me to always be honest; to tell the truth when asked, but that it wasn't necessary to tell everything I know. This was usually after, as a child will, I had shared something embarrassing.  

Truth and wisdom are commonly intertwined in scripture. The search for truth and knowledge is a noble thing in fact. Solomon wrote about it extensively, then concluded: "Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body" (Ecc. 12:12b). In context, that statement is a caution to heed the words of the wise and not add useless extra thinking to it. We seem to do that a lot, particularly in theological circles. Don't misinterpret me here, I love theology and the mental prodding and goading (as in the context of the aforementioned statement); however, over-thinking (the writing of many books) is a failing of theologians; which has led to many a divisive argument (which is one of the fruits of the flesh mentioned by the apostle Paul).

The Apostle Paul also cautions us toward "speaking the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15), which, again taken in context, comes from understanding the teachings of scripture and not being taken in by every wind of doctrinal division that blows our way. I do not mean to say that understanding of Biblical doctrine is useless, not by any means; on the contrary: the understanding of Biblical doctrine is of utmost necessity. It is the application and dissemination of extra-biblical discussion and thinking that leads us down the dangerous path toward division. 

So, getting back to the original text, truth is a wonderful thing, and the pursuit of the knowledge of truth is excellent and admirable. When we seek out truth and speak it in love, we pursue the epitome of the use of knowledge. Knowledge without understanding is useless, so it is good to study the scripture, and even look at the writings of others to help us understand better what the scriptures tell us. So it's really an endless cycle of study, but if we do not apply ourselves to the study of the Bible, we will have no foundation and no anchor to hold on to when we are confronted with ideas that may fall outside the teachings of the scripture. 

While Jesus was on trial, Pilate asked Him; "What is truth?" The irony of that is, he was looking the Truth in the eye. In many ways we do much the same. We search so heavily for truth, poring over scripture and commentaries and the thoughts of men on what the scriptures really mean, we lose track of the very truth staring us right in the face.