Truth Like A River

TRUTH LIKE A RIVER

There once was a powerful river that ran through the country of My Life. It has no particular name. This river cut its way jaggedly through the middle of the country and its branches trickled outwards across the countryside.  There were many villages along the banks of this river. To name a few they were called, Love, Hope, Identity, Joy, Belief, and Desire. 

This country was faring well and had done so for some time now. The villages also fared well themselves. But something was missing and despite the best efforts of the country it could not figure out what it was. One day, a storm began to brew on the border of My Life. This was not a rare occurrence because storms came almost every day to this country. They usually brought a slight degree of damage, but nothing that a little bit of work and time couldn’t repair. However, there was something about this storm that appeared to be different. It looked to be stronger and fiercer than any storm the little country had seen before. It loomed dark and powerful in the sky. The breeze began to quicken and large trees swayed in the wind. The storm was coming.

It began to rain. The rain saturated the country side and the river began to swell. The water in the river was churning and rapids began to form. The water splashed against the rocky bank and the mist sprayed the trees hanging over the river before returning to the pool of churning water. The rain continued all day and as it did, the water gradually yet forcefully overcame the banks of the river that ran through My Life.  

The water continued to rise as the storm continued throughout the entire day. Soon the water reached the villages that lay on the banks of the river. It began to puddle the floor of huts and shops in the villages. The foundations were beginning to rot. The river would not stop rising despite the best efforts of the country. It continued to rise. All day long it rose. Before sunset the churning, saturating river could be seen covering all but the roofs of the village huts and shops. All My Life could do now was watch and hope for the best and that some villages would be left. Or at least a hut to live in.

In the morning, as the sun cracked over the horizon the whole scene could be seen. Debris, from the villages bobbed up and down as it was taken down the river. Over the next couple of days the water began to retreat back into its banks and along with it the hope that any hut in any village would be left standing.

When the river was almost back in the confines of its banks, the villages of Love, Hope, Identity, and Joy were desolate. Not a structure was left standing, not even the foundations. The huts and villages had been swept away by the powerful current and rising water. There was no remnant of a village ever existing, with the exception of a clearing in the trees, where huts had once proudly stood. What a fragile thing in which so much time can be spent building and yet so quickly destroyed.

However, when all appeared lost and as if nothing would remain to rebuild My Life the villages of Belief and Desire were found to be completely intact. The huts and shops that stood there before the storm and the flood, stood proudly still. 

In the village of Belief the most peculiar thing had happened. The huts and shops appeared to be rotated. They were facing a different direction than they had before the storm. Some that were before facing the west were now turned to the East as if to watch the rising sun. Some were hardly turned at all. But no hut was completely exempt from this peculiar rotation.  Crazily enough, in the village of Desire not a single hut was moved. However, in some miraculous way the water and debris that rose and swept by the village had scrapped an inscription on the city gate. It read, “Delight yourselves in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” The huts had not changed and they looked no different, but now they understood why they were created and carefully placed in My Life.

The flooding river brought change and renewal to the country of My Life. As the villages of Belief and Desire began to grow stronger and larger, so too did the villages of Love, Hope, Identity, and Joy. In fact, Belief and Desire had a particularly large influence on the development of these newly created and refreshed villages. These villages were all more fervent and steadfast than before. So much so, that, they began to consider the flooding river as a vital blessing. It was decided upon to give the river a name and it was so named The Truth of God.

John 16:13
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.

Ephesians 1:13-14
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of his glory.