Seeking Truth
by Sharon Chatwell

The young woman sat across the table from me, awaiting my response.

I regarded her carefully. She must have thought I didn’t understand her question, because now she was restating it. I paused, knowing the answer she was searching for, but not being willing to give it to her.

Her question was, “Where do you go for truth?”

The voices in the coffee shop murmured behind us. I asked myself how long it had been since this same girl had sat across from me in children’s church every Sunday; hearing all of those Bible stories, singing all those songs, and doing all those crafts? Maybe 10, 15 years? It couldn’t have been more than that. Then she went overseas with her parents, who were missionaries in South Asia.

I wanted to call her by her full name and say something like, “Do you mean to tell me that you actually don’t know where to find the truth?”

The girl to her right, with her nose buried in her laptop, had barely looked up at me when I had come in. I had rated a brief, “Hey!”, when we had been introduced by my old friend’s daughter. Sophomores at the local college, they were doing a project in which they interviewed people to find out what forms of media they used to obtain information and “truth.” The answers were grouped by age. They thanked me for coming in. They were a little embarrassed when they told me that they had needed more people “of a certain age.” That explained my friend’s text.

I had delayed answering for too long, because she was rephrasing the question yet again. “Where do you go when you want to find the truth?”

I am sure, just positive mind you, that we covered this in children’s church. One of those days, in the middle of all that glue and glitter, I am sure I made the whole class memorize John 14:6, “Jesus answered him, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life…’” (NASB). 

Jesus is the truth. Always look to Jesus for truth.

Of course, that wasn’t the answer they were fishing for. They wanted me to say which news station I watched. They were ready to fill in my responses according to their predetermined biases. I’m afraid my answer stumped them. “Christian radio,” I answered flatly, “They have news at the top of the hour.”

They looked disappointed. I could tell my answer was likely going to skew their data. They might even have to try and explain it away as an outlier. Good. I hope so. I hope the whole class had to listen about how I get my news from Christian radio. (It was true, too.)

Physicians routinely have to search for truth and be willing to act on it when they find it. They parse through data from labs, imaging studies, histories and physicals to try and figure out diagnoses. They consult with experts and bring in specialists until they have the answer. They don’t quit until they get to the truth; until they get to the very best answer for their patient.

Likewise, physicians’ wives have to be concerned with the truth. We have our own personal need for the truth, so that we can grow mentally and spiritually. We must be dedicated to finding the truth every day. Seeking it out, as we encourage our families and others in the truth.

I wish… I really wish I had told those two girls that when I want the truth I go to the Bible, because that’s the only place I’ve ever found it. When you need truth that you can sink your teeth into or hang onto with your fingertips, it’s in the Bible.

God won’t lie to you, no matter what.

It’s an election year (again) and so (again) no one seems to be making much sense on the news. Everyone is scrambling for the truth. It is imperative that we have it, so we can make good decisions. The problem is that so much of the news seems to have a new take on the truth every day. As a result, we–the listeners–end up feeling shocked or confused. I would rather they tell us the whole truth to start with.

When you go to the doctor, you want the truth, right? Of course, you do. Even if it is bad news, it is better to have the truth.

When we really need the truth in life, we can look to Jesus, who is the Truth.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He came here, where we are, a long time ago and died on a cross paying for all our sins. By trusting in Him we can have life everlasting. Nobody comes to the Father except through Him.

There’s the truth. You could summarize all of children’s church right there in that paragraph.

“I’m calling your mother,” I thought.

Sharon is a physician’s wife living in beautiful Lincoln, Nebraska. This week she is celebrating 40 years of “wedded bliss” with her husband. Her prayer is that God will bless all of you in your marriages.