Truth is the ultimate language of God

When I was just a boy, my best friend was a cousin of mine who lived about a mile away. He had a little beagle named Primo who got hit by a car one day. The dog was in bad shape. I wasn’t there but my older brother had the task of getting the badly hurt dog to the vet to see if anything could be done to save him. He recalled how Primo sat in the back seat of the car with my cousin trying to comfort him. His head was up and his tail was wagging, but he was dying.

Sometimes, we can be just like Primo. In the guise of faith, we wag our tails (so to speak) despite the harsh reality of the true state we may find ourselves in. It’s as though we are ashamed to concede that we are not well. We don’t want to be counted among the faithless, so we suffer silently. Some do so to the very point that just can’t take it any more, and sadly choose what they feel to be the only way out, suicide.

We sometimes suffer from a failure to be real! Truth is the ultimate language of God and we need to be able to communicate at that level, even when it’s painful to do so. Paul’s directive to “speak the truth in love” needs to be applied both to our internal communication as well as to the dialogue we have with trusted others. Those truthful conversations aren’t always about a genuine desire to help someone see themselves. Sometimes they need to reflect the suffocating, painful issues of our own hearts and minds.

We’re living in a hurting world. People are in pain. I attended two funerals yesterday and I have two to attend next week. Three out of the four involved the deaths of individuals who died (from a humanistic vantage) far too soon; two by violence and one by COVID. In these days of pestilence, violence and natural disasters, we need to see the reality of hurting souls beyond their wagging tails. We need to become adept at encouraging faith in the midst of crisis, personal loss and trauma.

My prayer is that God give us the grace to see past the facades of the hurting, have the compassion to sacrificially be there for them, and the wisdom to know how best to show up.

And for those who are hurting, I pray that God open your eyes to those around you in whom you can trust with the revelation of your true state of mind. Perhaps it’s a genuine, compassionate and understanding pastor; there are many! Maybe it’s a dear friend or family member that you need to trust with your truth. Seek and you shall find.

Perhaps it’s gotten to the point that a call to the Suicide Prevention Hotline is warranted. The National Hotline can be reached at 800-273-8255. They are trained to help. Whatever you do, just don’t keep it to yourself and try to handle it on your own.

Faith is not meant to be reality aversive. The greatest faith of all is the faith to know that God is bigger than our harshest realities. He will see us through as we put our ultimate trust in Him and avail ourselves of both the human and divine resources He provides! God bless you! Peace.

The Rev. Todd Foster is the director of global missions of Cornerstone Christian Center and the executive director of The Storehouse Project, the separate 501(c)3 outreach arm of the church. He can be reached at tfoster@storehouse projectct.org.

The Rev. Todd Foster