Under Investigation

 When Piper was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, I was inundated with all kinds of unsolicited “advice” from family members on both sides of the family, from church members, friends, neighbors and even strangers we’d meet on our daily walks, at the supermarket or while in the waiting room of a doctor’s office.

Many of those who were acquainted with Piper would tell me what they thought was best for her.  Many people who didn’t really know her would openly share what they “knew” was going to happen with her… solely based on a personal experience with a family member or that of a friend’s or friend of a friend’s experience.

What I quickly ascertained was that most of these folks didn’t really know and understand Piper nor I, the relationship that we had developed over the years, our firmly founded faith and the differences in which the way that the disease was affecting her, compared to that of others.  One of the most common statements I found myself repeating when addressing people’s concerns and unrequested input was… “You know?  I probably know Piper better than anyone else in this world.” 

Let’s face it… in the forty some years that we had been together up to that time, I “knew” her.  You could say that I had thoroughly INVESTIGATED her!  I knew her heart.  I understood the way she thought, the intricacies of her deeply rooted Christian beliefs and how they directed just about everything she said and did, and how she would react in most situations.

I am most thankful for the deep level of love, understanding, commitment and oneness that we developed… for when she was unable to verbally communicate, I could still “read” her and know how she would feel about and respond to the different decisions that I was having to make for her care.

As a Christian, I believe that our relationship was based on the same type and depth of relationship that every Christian should enjoy with our father God.  It is the same level of love, trust, and understanding that the Apostle Paul wrote of and demonstrated throughout the pages of the New Testament.  In 2 Timothy 1:12 Paul wrote to his son in the Lord declaring,

“for I KNOW whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” (KJV) 

The word translated “know” in this verse is defined in Thayer’s Greek Definitions as “to notice, discern and to discover… and to ascertain what must be done about it.” In other words… it speaks of an INVESTIGATION into the ONE in whom Paul believed and elicits an action to be taken with the information discovered during his detailed INVESTIGATION.

The Passion Translation sheds a little more clarity into the meaning of Paul’s confession to Timothy saying,

“for I have an INTIMATE REVELATION of this God. And my faith in Him convinces me that He is more than able to keep all that I’ve placed in His hands safe and secure until the fullness of His appearing.” 

For Paul, the answer to the action that he needed to take was to be “persuaded” or fully “convinced” that his INVESTIGATION proved… without a shadow of doubt… that God would “keep” (to guard, defend, keep safe and preserve*), all the love and trust that he personally placed in God’s hands!

In reference to this verse, Jesse Duplantis, in his new book entitled “Believe - Unlock Your Faith in God’s Promises” writes,

“Faith always works if you work it. I know that.  I think the reason some people ‘don’t know in whom they have believed’ is because they try to live on someone else’s faith.  They haven’t developed faith for themselves.  They haven’t INVESTIGATED” their own faith.”**

So, just like I had thoroughly INVESTIGATED Piper over the forty plus years that we enjoyed together and knew her better than anyone else in this world… when she got sick… I also had to take the time to thoroughly INVESTIGATE my personal faith in the One in whom Piper and I needed to trust for the long road ahead that we faced. 

Without a doubt… I could not have made it through the many dark nights that I endured without “knowing” that I had established an INTIMATE REVELATION with my God, with a faith in Him that convinced me that He is more than able to keep all that I placed in His hands (ie; Piper), safe and secure until the fullness of His appearing.”

How about you?  Have you taken the time to INVESTIGATE your faith?  Is your faith based on what someone else believes… on something that someone else may have taught you… or is it based and firmly founded on your own thoroughly INVESTIGATED personal faith in God and the truth of His Word?

I hope that you are having a fantastic day today.  We are in the midst of fall like weather and it is wonderful… and Fiver (with his thick, fluffy coat) is like a totally different dog in the cooler weather!  In fact, the cooler the better! 

Enjoy your weekend as you INVESTIGATE your personal faith… and then pass some cheer on to someone else!

 

*Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

**Believe -Unlock Your Faith in God’s Promises” pages 71-72, © Copyright 2024, Published by Jesse Duplantis, PO Box1089, Destrehan, LA  70047 – www.jdm.org