Years ago, I was traveling down a familiar road in my town and the stoplight ahead of me turned yellow before I thought it would. My mind waivered in that in between space – should I slow down to stop or keep going – for a few moments. I thought I had enough time for my front tires to make it over the line and into the intersection before the light turned red. I remembered learning that from our state’s driver’s education class when I was 15 – if your front tires cross the line before the light turns red, you aren’t running a red light.
I noticed all other cars in the opposite direction were stopped at the light. So even if it was close for me, I wouldn’t risk an accident with them. It didn’t matter that a police officer was also stopped at the light. I had enough time. It also didn’t matter that the police officer was in the left turn lane. If I had run the light, all it would take is a simple curve of the wheel for him/her to conveniently pull me over. I had enough time, I thought.
Just to be sure, I turned to my friend in the passenger seat. They agreed, “Don’t stop. You’ll be fine.” My front tires crossed the line and I was well in the intersection before the light turned red. PHEW. I am a rule follower and was relieved to not have broken a big rule of the road.
All the waffling and wondering in my mind occurred in less than a few seconds. Two more seconds after the light turned, I saw flashing lights in my rearview mirror. The officer pulled me over and wrote me a ticket for running a red light.
“But officer,” I countered, “I didn’t run the red light.”
He stared at me.
“My front tires were over the line way before it turned red.”
He didn’t blink, didn’t move a muscle.
“My friend saw it too.”
“Have a good day, ma’am.”
Six months later in court (I decided to contest the ticket), I had poked a few holes in the officer’s case against me and felt like things were going well. I took the stand, spoke my peace well, and was smiling inside thinking, “Finally, this officer is going to realize he can’t twist the truth and get away with it.”
Right before I was dismissed from the stand, the judge circled back, “I want to ask you something before you sit back down.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Earlier,” he grimaced, “you said you think your tires were over the line.”
I gulped, “Yes.”
“How sure are you?”
“Pretty sure. I mean, I am almost positive.”
He rested his craggily knuckle on his crumpled chin.
My mind wavered in that in between space again – did I really remember or not? “I have a witness here that was in the car. I asked for the camera footage to be pulled from that intersection. Did that happen? Can you pull up the film and see?”
“Young lady, I cannot rule in favor of someone who thinks they are pretty sure that they are almost positive.”
And it was over. I was found guilty of running a red light, had to pay a fine, go to defensive driving classes, and that officer got away with lying. He accused me and won.
Dear ones, the world is going to accuse of all kinds of things. Your boss might tell you you’re wrong, your friend might suggest you don’t matter enough, your boyfriend might say you’re not good enough, and your own mind might try to convince you that you can never do enough.
But God says you are more than enough with Him.
God says you are…
FORGIVEN Romans 3:24
MADE NEW 2 Corinthians 5:17
PRECIOUS 1 Corinthians 6:20
LOVED Ephesians 1:4
SET FREE Romans 8:1-2
HOLY Hebrews 10:10
WORTHY Ephesians 2:10
VICTORIOUS John 16:33
If we want to be filled with the truth, then we have to make room for it in our minds. Ladies, let’s take out the garbage and take in the truth.
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” Philippians 4:8
When your thoughts start to waver and you feel unsure, take out the garbage. If it isn’t true, isn’t noble, isn’t right, isn’t pure, isn’t lovely, isn’t admirable or excellent or praiseworthy, take it out. Don’t think about it. Remove it. Take in the Truth and think about it instead.
When your mind is waffling in that in between space, you can always be sure one thing is true – God’s Word about you. Let us take the Truth over lies in all areas of our lives.
All for His glory,
Amanda loves everything Texas and everything Jesus. She squeezes in as much time reading and writing as possible in between raising two precious girls and doing her best to love and respect her firefighter husband. She knows how empty life was without God and is forever grateful for the handful of people who led her to the Lord.
Amanda is one of those extroverted introverts and had to learn how to place God’s armor over the heart on her sleeve. Her desire is for women all over the world to know God adores them so they can return to, and remain in, their intended identity- His.
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Sweet friends, thank YOU so much for joining us for our summer study: Truth Over Lies!!! We pray it was a blessing to you and God used these last six weeks to speak powerful truths into your lives!!!
Normally in August, we take a break but for those who would rather not, we will be going through our Ruth: One Woman’s Journey From Loss To Legacy study which will run for 4-weeks! We would love for you to join us if you’d rather not take a break!
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I have always believed that if you have to think about whether something is right or wrong, it’s wrong, and dont do it.
That is a great standard to believe in and abide by, Patricia! And it’s backed by Scripture in Romans 14:23, “But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.” I was definitely not a follower of Christ at the time of this story. I’m so grateful for a firm foundation on His Word now!