“They traded the truth about God for a lie…” Romans 1:25a.

I’ve been mulling this half-verse over for quite a few days now. Paul is talking to the church in Rome about how all of creation knows the truth of God, that even without speaking a word, He is seen in every facet of creation. Then he drops that little bomb about how willing humanity was to trade truth for a lie. He goes on to list a whole terrible bunch of things that this brought humanity; most of which are sins I committed so I can see the accuracy of his words. But it’s this one little line that I keep coming back to and the thought: What lie am I trading God’s truth for?

I realize I still struggle with the truth of being able to become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). I mean I understand that God now sees me as whole and under His covenant but I still deal with bipolar, ptsd, and bpd. Why didn’t those things just disappear when I got saved? (I do believe that they can, and I know people that this has happened to, it just isn’t my story.) What am I trading that truth for?

The truth is, yes, those things are still a part of my life because my body resides in a physical world where consequences to trauma, life, and addiction happen. This in no way negates the fact that I am a new creation as well. I’ve been catching glimpses of my brain healing ever since I said yes to Jesus. It hasn’t been all at once, but it has happened. If I were to tell myself any different, I would be trading God’s truth for a lie. Sadly, there are still some days that I do this, but they are getting less and less.

When I learned about this new creation stuff, I thought I would be like some sort of superhuman, blasting healing thru my fingertips, my truth-spoken words literally crumpling people (ok, so there might have been a little bit of mania going on there). But the reality is that God is creating me to be a whole human again, He has been slowly separating insanity from my reality. So as of right now, no blasting healing shooting out of my hands like some awesome X-Men power, but my mind is literally piecing itself back together which is a whole new area of superpower. With God, with meds, with therapy, and a whole lot of understanding from family and friends, I am being made into a person with a sound mind. That is a truth that has taken me years to believe and understand; I will not trade it for a lie again.

But I still have the option to trade this truth, hence the warning from Paul in Romans. If we aren’t careful, we can overlook the very real God things happening in our lives because we focus on the also very real physical things that have not yet been fully overcome in this world. But they are not even present in the holy Kingdom that is taking over our world. One day mental illness, disease, and all manner of unjust wrongs will not just bow to Jesus, they will cease to exist. And the truth is even though we deal with them today, regardless of how they fight us; as God’s children, we win.

That is truth and I will not trade it for anything else.