WHY DON"T YOU EVER BELIEVE ME?
Are you a young person,or even an adult who struggles with family relationships? Does it sometimes seem easier to lie to your parents,friends or spouse, rather than to deal with the trouble? Maybe you can relate to this story.
IT WAS IMPORTANT ENOUGH FOR GOD TO MAKE IT ONE OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS!
Heather had gotten home from school when she looked out the window and saw Jeff, her boy friend,coming up the driveway. "Oh great!" She sighed. She wasn't supposed to have boys over when her parents weren't there. As a matter of fact,her parents did not believe in dating,atleast not the way it is now-a days. Heather had gotten in trouble before for having Jeff in while her parents were gone. But, what she really got in trouble for was lieing about it. Her little sister would be home from soccer practice soon,and she always told on her.
She went outside and Jeff greeted her with a big smile. He was a nice boy from the church youth group,but they were both just 16,and her parents just felt that Heather was not mature enough for dating. Jeff wasn't planning on staying and had just stopped to say hi. Just then,a station wagon pulled up and out popped her little sister,Beth. "I'm telling," Beth taunted.
That night,Heather's parents asked her about it. Heather was defensive and shouted," I didn't ask him to come over,and he left right away. But who cares?! You won't believe me anyway!" Then she stomped off to her bedroom and slammed the door. Behind the closed door,she shouted, "Why don't you ever believe me!?"
It was all very simple to Heather.She was telling the truth this time,and they should have believed her.
This time it was different. Heather thought that she had a right to expect belief from her parents.
It wasn't until years later when she had come home from college that she really thought about it
and finally understood. She had lied often.She lied to stay out of trouble. She lied to get permission. She lied to go places where her parents wouldn't approve.Sometimes she lied to get her brother and little sister in trouble when she was mad at them!
She had been caught enough times in those lies,that her parents knew she was a habitual liar. And, when she was caught,she always made excuses.
Her parents had the confusing job of trying to sort out the occasional truth from the lies. Heather could look them dead in the eye, with tears streaming,insisting that she was telling the truth.
She saw her younger sister bound into the kitchen. "Why are you late?" asked her mother. Beth told her that she had stopped to talk with her friend on her way home from the library, and then added that she was sorry she was late and didn't call. That was all there was to it.Their mother had believed her, and why shouldn't she? Beth didn't lie.
Then Heather remembered that situation that was a a wake up call in her life. She had been in college for three months. She had wanted the education without the work. It was pretty much how she looked at all of life.
She cut corners everywhere she could. She even went so far as to lie to her professors when she skipped classes. She had an out-going personality and could appear very genuine when she was lying. But, she went too far. She has gone away skiing with a friend for a week,and told one of her professors that there had been a death in the family. What she didn't know was that he would call her parents. But when she was called to Professor
Meyer's office and her parents were there, she knew she had been caught again. Now there was more at stake than just tv privilages or being grounded..
They talked for a long time and explained that it really didn't matter to them if she chose to drop out of college.But her parents were not going to pay her tuition if she continued down the path she was following. They decided that if she wanted to stay in school,she had to get a parttime job and help pay the tuition. Maybe then, it would mean more to her. They also told her that since she professed to be a christian, she had to take her walk with the Lord more seriously.
After she went back to her dorm room, and her parents went home,she thought about that for a long time. All she ever wanted to do was teach music. And yes,it was true, she considered herself to be a christian,and it was time to show some maturity.
It was hard to undo the habits she had learned. It
was so much harder facing responsibility instead of making excuses and lying. As a matter of fact she had to make herself aware of the temptation at every moment.
But,time went by, and she was in her last semester of school.Her parents were eager to accept her maturity and with much prayer,the trust they never had began to piece together. When she came home, she didn't have to face that wall of tension that was between her and her parents. Heather had lost a lot trying to manipulate and lie her away around things. Remember Jeff? He became co-pastor in a neighboring church. Jeff had asked Heather to marry him, but caught her in too many lies and broke off the engagement.She blamed him in the same way she had blamed her parents. But now she knew,and she also knew that the Lord would help her to build trust...
Are you involved in a life of lies today? Have your lies resembled Heather's ,or maybe they are even worse. Those lies may get you out of trouble for the moment,or they may get you what you want. But,those lies are the building blocks of the temple of isolation. They will push you further and further away from your loved ones...and most important,God. Don't let those lies control you anymore. You need the fresh air of trust. "There is a fountain filled with blood,flowing from Emanuel's veins.Those that plunge beneath the blood,lose all their guilty stains."
Turn it over to the Saviour today..
