It always comes back to truth

The Lord, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the human spirit within a person, declares:  Zechariah 12:1

What a great way to open the twelfth chapter of the book of Zechariah: grounding the people in the truth of who God is.

God of heaven, living with me.

What a great place to start each day: remembering who God is and that He made us, along with the whole universe. That He formed the human spirit within each person, that each breath we take comes from the one true God. That all our inspiration comes from Him, all our intuition, all our love and kindness come from Him – that everything we have and are is His and of His own, do we give Him. That every human being is made in the image of God. That as we go through each day, the God/light/love/divine energy in us needs to acknowledge and respect and honour the God in others, in all living things.

A day is coming, this God says, when His people will rise up and defeat all its enemies.

If God is for us, who can stand against us?

Nothing is impossible with God.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God.

The day will come when all people will see the truth of this for themselves.

The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the Lord Almighty is their God. Zechariah 12:5

God’s people will become a light shining in the darkness, a shining example of how to live in relationship with God.

Alongside this deliverance and victory, there will be a spiritual awakening. Their eyes will be opened and they will see the hurt they have caused God by their disobedience and lack of trust in Him. They will desire to connect with Him, to pray to Him, to come before Him.

And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication.  Zechariah 12:10

And they will mourn. They will grieve for the time lost, for the damage caused.

And then there will come cleansing.

On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.  Zechariah 13:1

It’s only when our eyes are opened and we recognise what’s gone wrong in our lives and are able to grieve for the time lost, for the damage caused, that we can be made whole again. There’s a breaking down before building up again.

Then the truth will burst forth. Anyone who deceived or told lies to mislead people before will seek the truth. Only speak the truth.

People will say it as it is. People will own the reality of who they are. People will stop pretending to be something that they are not. They will not put themselves down with their words, but neither will they make themselves seem better than they actually are. People will feel able to be real, to admit weaknesses and temptations and failure.

For in the truth is found strength.

That’s why Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and other such groups are so powerful. When people start to face and own up to their truth and speak it out, then there is real power for healing and change. When we face up to the reality of what has gone before in all its ugliness and brokenness, then we find the strength to move on into the future. When we stop pretending that we have it all sorted and we’re just fine, then we can actually move on towards wholeness.

I found this on World Mental Health Day last week, when I posted this message on Facebook –

Let’s all stop pretending that everything’s OK when it’s not, so that others can stop pretending too.
It’s OK not to be OK.

And then elaborated in the comments –

OK. I’ll start. I carry around a crippling anxiety that I can’t shake off because it’s so deeply embedded in me that nothing can reach it. Even when things are going well and I’m happy on the outside, there’s a depth of sadness that is always there. I spend a lot of energy trying to stop myself from falling down that particular dark hole. I also spend a lot of energy battling with a sense of futility about life. I think on a regular basis that my lie is not worth living, but never say it, because that’s not the kind of thing you can say. I’m so exhausted from all this constant inner turmoil. I work hard to make my life the best it can be, but most of the time, feel like a complete failure in most aspects of my life.

And then stressed about whether I’d done the right thing and battled with vulnerability and insecurity!

But actually, it was a good thing. It’s given me more confidence to face and own my truth, to stop pretending everything is OK and is going to just go away if I ignore it for long enough. It’s made me face up to my truth for what is is without shame and start to find ways to live with it: to be who I am and stop trying to be someone different. That’s not giving in to anxiety and depression, but doing what I need to do to get through each day in the best way possible for me.

There’s been a lot packed into today’s blog, hasn’t there? Starting where we should always start….with the God of heaven living in each one of us….

Moving through these affirmations –

If God is for us, who can stand against us?

Nothing is impossible with God.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God.

To living as a shining example…

To spiritual awakening and cleansing and a new start and rebuilding and truth.

It always comes back to truth.

Living in the truth.

Standing up for the truth.

Owning our truth.