Timeless Truth Number Three -Share the Truth when the Time is Right

Timeless Truth Number Three - Share the Truth When the Time is Right.

It was 5:50 AM on a warm spring Saturday morning. Of all the places I could be, preferably in bed at home, I was at the pregnancy care center I worked act. A young couple I mentored had finished enjoying their high school prom the night before and I came in early to satisfy a suspecting hunch that this couple was going to be in for a very rough ride before they woke. I hated being right as their morning started with a bang.

"Kurt, she's in there, she's in there! What do I do?" came the call from young Kyle. "I can't believe they did it, that they actually took her there!" was all I could hear being yelled at me on the other end of the phone shortly after I arrived at the center.

"Kyle, calm down. Do you mean to tell me that Stacy's at Planned Parenthood, right now?"

"Yes. We didn't think they'd take her! Oh man, this can't be happening. Not now, what do I do? This can't be happening to us." came Kyle's broken plea.

Four weeks earlier I had met Kyle and Stacy. With just over a month and half of school left Stacy and Kyle came to the pregnancy care center to confirm what they suspected - that Stacy was pregnant. Just weeks away from starting the plans she had for college and the rest of he life, suddenly her life took a dramatic turn.

Being the men's ministry coordinator it came natural for the staff to assign me to work with Kyle. From there somehow (probably providence) both Kyle and Stacy while clients of the center, became my wife's and my very good young friends.

The young couple told us that they wanted to have their child, start a parenting plan and make a go of it as parents to their baby. In spite of not being married, the two were very committed to one another and wanted to step up to the plate and handle this new responsibility they'd created.

Yet there was one small problem.

Stacy's parents were not at all enthusiastic about her having a baby. They had hopes and desires for their daughter and strongly made their opinion known over and over with the young couple. Kyle and Stacy had their hearts determined to become parents, yet, as young people they foolishly tried to side-step the incoming messages from Stacy's parents. They did not take her parents demands for Stacy to have an abortion as seriously as they should have.

Alone at times with Kyle I tried time and time again to get him to see the real and imminent danger to ignoring Stacy's parents. As a young buck, trying to prove himself, the majority of my pleas bounced off of his conscious like bee-bee's being shot at a speeding train.

I discovered early on when it comes to matters of the heart, there is not a single shred of logic, insurmountable evidence or wise counsel that a heart will listen to that will change it's course or direction. Kyle's and Stacy's hearts were set, they were going to their prom, going to enjoy themselves and nothing was going to stand in the way of the doing otherwise with their evening, or their child.

Making several last ditch pleas with them the week leading up to their prom I noticed that they were beginning to tune me out. No matter how much I turned up the volume or intensity of my message - that they better have a plan to handle Stacy's objecting parents - they became more determined to enjoy their prom and deal with the promised appointment by Stacy's parents to visit Planned Parenthood somehow, someway on their own.

"Kurt, I need your help! Stacy's mom and dad have her inside Planned Parenthood right now. How can they do this to us? Please, I need your help man, I'll do anything you tell me." Now, in spite of all of their short-term planning Kyle and Stacy's world turned upside down when her parents, as promised, drove Stacy in for an abortion the morning after prom.

"Kyle, tell me the whole story and get yourself down here to the center as soon as possible. If Stacy does not want to have an abortion, no one can make her do it against her will. Let's get to work." was all I could get him to hear from me in his frantic state. Within minutes, he was at the center. In my van we drove and parked close the the facility. We guided Stacy by cell phone on what her options were for the next hour.

As the cathedral bells down the street began to chime it was 10:00 AM we saw Stacy come out of the clinic beaming as she recognized Kyle across the way. The two embraced and we headed off to reroute the young couple plans as how to best handle the situation with Stacy's parents. It was a glorious morning.

Only wanting the best for their daughter Stacy's parents thought they did what was right. Wanting the best for themselves Kyle and Stacy did what they thought was right and the families collided.

Today, Stacy's parents in spite of their original desires have seen their daughter thrive as a young mother. They've come to know their grandson as a beautiful young boy with glorious blue eyes and can't get enough of the little guy. Most of all Stacy's parents have gone on to see their daughter thrive professionally and continue her education at a premiere university. There is joy - where once there was pain.

As for me I learned the value in presenting the truth to this young couple when the time was right. No matter how hard I tried to push the truth on them of the impending situation, I did not realize or take into account I could have been damaging our relationship by trying to force-feed the truth in spite of their strong will. I could not deliver the truth of what to do - until - Kyle's heart was broken and ready to hear from me that morning.

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." Psalm 51:17 (NIV)

It wasn't until Kyle was crushed and broken, that his loosely held plans blew up in his face, could he hear me and follow me.

It's the same for all of us, no matter the situations in our life. Our loving savior Jesus is gracious to deliver us the truth when the time is right. Our hardened hearts are not something He's going to come against with our free will. Look closely:

"When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah." Matthew 16:13-20 (NIV)

Did you catch that? Jesus delivered the full truth to His disciples when the time was right - and - as an added bonus the verse closes with the fact that He ordered His disciples not to tell anyone He was the Messiah. Why? It's simple, He's going to deliver the truth to others - when the time is right.

Think about it.