7 lessons about truth and reality
"I remember writing some of those things, shaking and trembling."
Person A: “God told me this about this scripture. When he opened my eyes to it, I was shaking. My eyes were burning, and I kept shivering for days.”
Person B: (pinching his nose) “But this revelation you got from this verse is wrong. The context is wrong and betrays the message passed...”
Person A: (aghast!) “Really, so was God lying? I was sure what I heard and how I felt...”
Person B: “Well, I am not disputing your experience, but your revelation of this verse of the Bible that you said God gave you betrays the meaning of this scripture. It is very flawed. It can mislead people. Look at what it means, considering the context...”
Person A: (totally confused), sighs deeply.
Towards late last year, I went back to the old diaries that I used as far back as 2013, 14, and 15. (I write most of my personal bible study sessions in my diaries).
As I read them, I was so surprised at how badly I interpreted the scriptures. Meanwhile, I remember writing some of those things, shaking and trembling.
The studies were largely based on the Old Testament. In my early days as a believer (for reasons I do not know), I found the New Testament texts extremely difficult to understand. Maybe it was the KJV that was confusing. I’m still wondering how I fared over the years as a “new” believer without understanding the New Testament.
No matter how I tried, the texts were like steel walls. So I turned to the Old Testament.
The OT stories were fascinating, and being someone who naturally has a somewhat inquisitive mind, I pulled out “revelations” from them at will.
Fast forward to some years later; I would begin to slowly understand the New Testament. My first discovery was that the whole Bible had a central figure, Jesus. It never dawned on me all these years.
Moving forward, I began to understand how to read the scriptures contextually, acknowledging the time of events, the age, the culture, the audience, etc. I could easily see how flawed my past revelations were, even though I got them under a supernatural atmosphere that made me quiver. Why they had such strong effects on my emotions remains a mystery though.
There were a lot of lessons and things I NOTED from this experience.
Some of them are:
We don’t fully understand how our emotions work. We don’t know the power they have to perhaps create a false or true experience that is based on our knowledge at the time.
Results or lack of them may not make anything true or false.
Truth will always remain referential, and we cannot prove if our reference is truth, for then we will need a higher reference (truth) to do so.
We just have to pick a truth, get convicted, and run with it.
An attempt to go against your accepted and believed truth has consequences.
Never be reluctant to abandon lesser knowledge for a higher and more superior one.
Do not jump on a truth quickly without ensuring it aligns perfectly or somewhat perfectly, and while you’re waiting to be convicted, don’t be guilty of still holding on to what you already understand. Making a transition from your previous knowledge to a new one should come with a lot of intentionality.