Book 3 of Musings The Obvious and the Not So Obvious

Sometimes the truth is right in front of us and we can't see it.

In other instances, what appears to be the truth is not true at all. We may have to dig for many years before we can determine what actually is true.

I have been a Christian for a long time. You would think by now I would have all the answers, or at least some of them, so I could be God's Answer Man. But such is not the case.

Solomon said: "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings." So we spend our life searching.

We have to really dig for many years. We do gain much truth over a period of time. But gaining truth is like peeling an onion. Layer after layer comes off. You never get at the onion. More layers and more layers.

Sometimes I think I know what God is doing. Then I receive additional insight. I am glad then that I did not make a decision before God's time.

There are things in the world that obviously are true. We can look at the creation and see that there is intelligent design in nature. The truth is obvious and in front of us until education seeks to confuse us.

It is obvious to me that modern art and music compositions of unrelieved dissonance are the emperor's new clothes.

When I was studying music my teacher told me that some day I would come to enjoy dissonant compositions-Charles Ives, Béla Bartók, for example. She claimed that my enjoyment of the classic masters was a learned behavior. I didn't believe her then and I don't believe her now. My taste in music has not changed!

As for painting, I went into a gallery and noticed a large canvas with a red disk painted on it-nothing but a red disk. The price tag was several hundred dollars.

You know what? I am as poor in art as it is possible to be, but I could draw a large red disk with no problem. I guess I could get rich that way.

It is all the emperor's new clothes. Other people find dissonant music and abstract painting wonderful. For myself, I will take Chopin and Thomas Kinkade any day. I think Kenneth Roberts is one of the greatest authors America has produced; but I'm sure someone more educated than I would find my selection terribly plebeian. A country bumpkin!

We can see truth when it is in front of us, and not be talked out of it if we have any backbone.

There is another dimension to this matter of what is obvious. Sometimes what is obviously true is not true at all. The military uses this device. So does Satan.

A situation arises in which the path before us seem so clear, so right. If we are not a person of prayer we skip happily forward and step on one of Satan's land mines.

Just because something seems so right, so good, does not mean it is of God. The only way in which we can discern what is of God is by unrelenting prayer.

But isn't God too good to let us be tricked if our heart is right?

It is God who told us to pray that we not be led into temptation. And we have to pray this several times a day, not just in church Sunday morning at 11 o'clock

In the military, it is the officer who takes endless precautions who brings himself and his men to safety. When in enemy territory he assumes that every twig is a detonator. He believes nothing he sees. It all may be a trap. He posts a guard on a rainy night when everyone is exhausted, even though the enemy supposedly is many miles away.

The penalty for the slightest bit of carelessness is destruction.

So there is the obvious truth that is in front of us that Satan attempts to talk us out of. An opportunity arises that other people can see is tailor-made for us. This sometimes is true of young people. Older people can see that a door has been opened in front of them that will lead to success. God's will is obvious to people who love them and are concerned for their welfare, if they only had eyes to see. But some kind of pressure blinds them to the obvious.

There do arise situations, although I think they are in the minority, when adults seek to dissuade a young person from the path he or she feels certain is of God. In this instance the young person must pray much and move very carefully. This sort of thing happened with Lillian Trasher, I think her name was, whom God called to work with orphans in Egypt. She went against her parents' wishes, but the work was shown to be of God.

Sometimes the majority are wrong and one individual is hearing from God, as in the case of Martin Luther and the other Protestant Reformers. There are pioneers who move out ahead of the wagon train; but there are many dangers.

Then there is the setup, where that which is obviously true is not true at all. The believer who is not living in the Presence of Jesus steps into the snare of Satan (the enemy is always placing snares on our path in the hope we will forget to pray about where we are walking), and the next thing you know we are facing a severe problem.

Sometimes truth is obvious. Sometimes truth is not so obvious. The Lord Jesus will keep us in the truth if we will be careful to seek His counsel at all times.

And if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, And if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, (Proverbs 2:3-4)