The Impossibility of Improvised Truth

There is something about getting mail.
Real mail.
In the mailbox kind of mail.
Real letters written in someone’s own hand.

There is something about going to the mailbox by the curb and peering inside.
That immediate thrill of seeing envelopes stacked one on top of the other.
The sweet pleasure of seeing one addressed to you.
Seeing your name on the front, knowing that no one can open the envelope but you.

When we lived in our other house, the children loved getting the mail.
They would set off on their trek to the mailbox.
Taking turns, they were thrilled when it was their chance to look inside.
When they were young, they would wait for the mail truck as it came up the street.

We had a woman mail carrier at the time.
Seeing their smiling faces made her day; at least that is what she told me.
She would make a big production about giving them the important mail.
She would pretend that it was heavy; they would laugh when they realized it was not.

We had a blizzard one winter while we were living in that house.
Before the storm, everyone was notified that the front of the mailbox had to be kept clear.
If the mail truck cannot drive to your box, your mail will not be delivered.
Living on a cul-de-sac, there was nowhere to put the mounds of snow.

Clearing the the massive piles of snow from the front of the mailbox was impossible.
We improvised.
We put a milk crate lined with heavy plastic on a ledge we made in the snow mound.
As the mail carrier drove up she could deposit our mail in there.

The children would watch for the mail truck to arrive.
Consequently, the mail was never in the crate for very long.
Neighbors began to do the same thing.
Soon everyone had some sort of makeshift mailbox on top of the mound of snow.

It was so cold that winter; the crate was actually frozen in place.
I can still see that blue crate in my mind’s eye.
We improvised to meet a need.
Coming up with a solution for the problem at hand.

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My word that goes forth from My mouth: It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10,11)

God’s Word does not return void.
God’s Word goes forth and accomplishes all God desires for it to accomplish.
God’s Word can be argued, debated, tossed aside, and dismissed.
God’s Word is eternal and will remain forever.

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God stands forever.
(Isaiah 40:8)

When my children went out to get the mail, there was always mail in the blue crate.
They were never disappointed that their trek to the mailbox would return void.
They set out to get the mail and the mail is what they found when they got there.
The crate, frozen in the snow, was not going anywhere until the first thaw.

God’s Word is not going anywhere.
Everything else may be falling down around us yet God’s Word will stand.
God’s Word can be counted on; God’s Word can be relied on.
God’s Word is trustworthy; God’s unfailing love lasts forever.

We improvised a solution during that blizzard to insure that we would receive our mail.
We cannot improvise God’s Word.
God’s Word says what it means and means what it says.
God’s Word is not up for negotiation.

That is the problem most people have with the Word of God.
They want it to be a matter of debate.
They want to be able to argue about its validity and win the argument.
That is not going to happen.

You do not negotiate Truth.
You do not improvise Truth.
Truth is solid.
Truth is not going anywhere.

That should comfort us.
We should be thrilled that when we go to God’s Word, it will not return empty.
God’s Word contains letters with our name on it.
Letters that we can open and read and understand in the power of the Holy Spirit.

We’ve got mail.
Mail from God.
Are you anxious to open it and see what it says?
Open God’s Word and know the Writer.

You can know Him.
His Word and His Truth are there for you to hide in your heart.
His word will not return void in your life.
His Word will accomplish what He desires and achieve the purpose He intended.

I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You. (Psalm 119:11)

You’ve got mail from God.
Take the time to read it.