1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
I just returned from a nice weekend in the hill country of west Texas riding motorcycles with 19 other friends and bikers. Judging by the number of deer laying lifeless on the side of the roads, it appeared that trucks, cars, and maybe some motorcycles have been doing their part in helping with the control of the deer population this year. It was a weekend of beautiful scenery, great riding, and beautiful weather. Though it was a good weekend for riding, several events marred what would have been a perfect weekend. Within each of those events, it was interesting to observe how the truth of what actually happened traveled so quickly and became so distorted.
We were riding through a part of the hill country where three roads (highways 335, 336, and 337) called the Twisted Sisters wind themselves through the hills and valleys of the Texas Hill Country around Leakey Texas. Along with the breath taking scenery, these highways have a wealth of challenges. You encounter everything you would experience in the Rockies during a summer ride. This ranges from steep grades and sharp turns to rocks on roads from the cliffs you are riding through. There are wild animals and open range riding where you always have to be alert. On some highways you are on the edge of cliffs dropping off hundreds of feet as you wind your way through the mountains. This is not the type of road inexperienced riders would want to take.
On our second day we were about half way through a ride on the first of the Twisted Sisters, highway 335. As we came over one rise had to slow down as a tow truck was loading up a motorcycle onto its flatbed. Ten more miles down the road as we entered the first level areas of the ride, emergency vehicles started blocking the roads in all directions. We sat on the highway for about 45 minutes as we watched a life flight helicopter land on the highway about 100 yards from us. The motorcycle we saw being loaded onto the flatbed had been hit a deer and had thrown both passengers from their bike. We spoke to the other riders from that group as they watched their friends being lifted off as they were being life flighted to San Antonio. Thankfully their injuries were not life threatening.
While this was tragic, it was interesting that by the time we got back to where we were staying a few hours later, some in our group had heard that the story that was going around town was that a farmer had been life flighted to San Antonio because he had crashed his plane into a field just outside of town and had started a fire. Totally false.
That same day as we came into town smoke had made its way into the area. The smoke was coming from north east Texas and had been pushed down south to where were were due to a cold front. We later confirmed this by both the news and a local fire representative from Garner State Park. These fires were 250 to 300 miles away.
The funny thing though was the responses we received from some local store owners when we inquired about the smoke. When asked every person had a different story. Some knew the truth. Some said it was in a local town just miles from where we were and were worried because winds were blowing our way. One story had heard that it was local and just outside of town a few miles (on the road we had just come off of as a matter of fact). They said it had been contained, but somehow a rabbit had caught fire and had hopped across a road and re-initiated another fire in a new area. This the lady told us was confirmed because her cousins friend saw it actually happen….
It was amazing to see how quickly something could get so distorted as someone takes a little piece of the truth, then adds their own color commentary and then passes it on to the next ready to listen soul.
It is hard to know what truth is sometimes both in life and on our own personal spiritual fronts.
I’ve worked over the years with people who were getting caught up in cults because they never had the courage to challenge the truth of their so called spiritual leaders. I’ve been involved and seen how we get pulled into the rumor mill with stories about those we care about and love without first checking out the truth and going to the source before making our final decisions. I’ve seen well meaning ministers and spiritual leaders sometimes get into trouble, but we often can idolize them in such a way that we think every word that comes from their mouths is directly from God and never had the courage to challenge them or confront them.
For years I lived in an environment were I didn’t feel right about questioning authority or for that matter the mentoring that I was receiving spiritually regarding my leaders or my faith. That questioning would have been seen as doubt and not as a search for truth. Spiritually, as I have grown, I’ve learned that allowing myself to question things, to not always taking things at face value, especially with my faith and relationship with God, my spiritual foundation has actually gotten stronger.
So I’ve learned that testing the truth we hear is a good thing. It’s OK to question. Taking what we hear, challenging it, holding it up and asking God what it means for me is a good thing. You see when someone is always asking questions about things, they are in a state of growth. Probably in a much better and healthier place growth wise than the person that isn’t questioning. So it’s OK to ask. It is OK to challenge. It is OK to let others know you have doubts about something. It puts you in a position to look for truth.
The bottom line is that inwardly we all truly seek the truth. So we should not accept it until we are comfortable within we have the truth.
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NOTE: By the way, if you are lead to, pray for the family of a biker from another group that didn’t make it home this weekend. As we were riding back to our cabins on highway 336, we were turned back due to this motorcycle fatality. I don’t know the bikers name or the story behind the accident but would appreciate your prayers for their family.
Me and my wife was on this ride. The fatality was on 336, i’m guessing about 6 miles from Leakey. We were headed toward Leakey on 336 from 41, came upon a group that were at the scene and telling all to turn around that road was blocked for about 2 hours. Their story was a bike didn’t make a curve and slid up under a pickup. Had called life flight, but was canceled due to biker being DOA.
You are correct, it was 336. Thanks for the correction…
Ride safe.
I liked this one a lot. We don’t know what the heck God has in store for us or why we are going through unemployment at this time in our lives and do question him. We have tried to be faithful and patient but it’s been over 2 years now and we grow weary. It’s good to be reminded that it’s OK to question and have doubts.