Sometimes it feels like it’s difficult to assess what is real and what is not. Our senses are not always the most reliable guide to truth. In his fantasy novel, ‘Chainfire’, Terry Goodkind explores this theme. The hero, Richard Rahl (the ruler of the D’Haran Empire), is injured in battle and treated by a sorceress who uses ‘subtractive magic’ to heal him. When he awakens, his wife (Kahlan, the Mother Confessor), is missing and no one seems to have any recollection of her. In fact, his memories of her are called ‘dreams and delusions’ by everyone else and they treat him as though he were mentally ill. It is a constant battle for him to hold on to the truth of all he knows of his life prior to this battle…
Sometimes it can be hard to hold on to the truth we know and believe. Kutless, in their song, ‘Even If’, say:
“Sometimes all we have to hold on to
is what we know is true of who You are
So when the heartache hits like a hurricane
That could never change who You are
And we trust in who You are.” (Kutless, ‘Even If’)
When we are praying for miracles and looking to see God move in our lives, and circumstances seem to be lining up against us, so that at times we even doubt who we are and who God is, we have to hold on to those basic, fundamental truths of who God is. We may not be able to reconcile what is happening with what we know of God’s character, (“Lord we know your ways are not our ways/ So we set our faith in who You are”), but we cling on to the truths of God’s character:
“Even if the healing doesn’t come
And life falls apart
And dreams are still undone,
You are God, You are good
Forever faithful One,
Even if the healing
Even if the healing doesn’t come.
You’re still the Great and Mighty One
We trust You always
You’re working all things for our good
We’ll sing your praise.” (Kutless, ‘Even If’)