Wednesday, January 13, 2010

My Recent Visit to the Twilight Zone

by Molly Noble Bull
www.mollynoblebull.com

I was sending an email to a friend, and if you know me, you know that I always sign my messages “Love Molly” unless I am writing to a man who is not a member of my family. But yesterday, instead of writing the word Molly, I wrote the word Nikkt. And I immediately thought of my friend Nikki.
I thought, this must be a message from God. Nikki must be sick or in need of prayer. I hadn’t thought of Nikki in weeks, but I knew I needed to write to her and pray for her. At once.
So I wrote the message below.
Dear Nikki,
Your name just came to my mind in a very strange way. I think God wants me to contact you today. Are you all right?
Nikki wrote back and said she was fine but had been having some problems.
Then I wrote her a second message, but this time, I included a little white lie. I told her that when I wrote a message to a friend earlier that morning, I signed the message Love Nikki.
Actually, I wrote –
Love,
Nikkt
I am not in the habit of signing someone else’s name to my messages, and I knew in my heart that Nikkt meant Nikki. But I was in a hurry. I simply didn’t want to take the time to explain why I thought Nikkt meant Nikki. So I lied to save time.
I told her that I had signed a message Love Nikki.
Today, the truth dawned on me.
If you check your computer, the letter M is next to the N. The letter i is next to the O, and the letter L is next to the K. The letter Y is next to the T, not the i. Thus, I wrote Nikkt.
What I did was set my hands one space over, and it could happen to anyone. Nikki might one day write—Love Mollu instead of Love Nikki.
But is there a point to all this?
The Lord constantly tests His people, and perhaps He was testing to see if I would tell the truth—the whole truth and nothing but.
I failed the test.
There is no such thing as a little white lie. Lies are neither little nor white.
I knew I needed to repent, and I have.
And what did I learn from all this?
Though I never entered the twilight zone, I sinned. And look at all the time and effort it took for me to explain it.

UPDATE: January 14, 2010
Read the comments at the end of this message, and you will learn the identity of my friend, Nikki. Or should I say Nikkt?

14 comments:

Margo Carmichael said...

Well, I just think about the midwives who spoke untruth in Moses' day. "And God blessed the midwives."

Yes, we're told not to bear false witness against someone. And no doubt, God frowns on telling a story to get out of punishment for bad behavior.

But God is good, and I think He takes into consideration our reasons for telling a story. He looks at our heart and judges accordingly and always in love.

God bless~

Molly Noble Bull said...

Dear Margo,
Thanks for writing. The Christian life is exciting. You never know what God is trying to teach next.
Love,
Molly

Patricia PacJac Carroll said...

Good story and moral. I believe the Lord is cleaning His vessels. Although you did tell a little white lie, God used it to bring you closer to Him. We can't lose with God and can't win without Him. Thanks for sharing.

Molly Noble Bull said...

Dear Patricia,
Thanks for writing. I hope my "little white lie" will be used by the Lord for His good.
Love,
Molly

Karen Lange said...

We're works in progress, aren't we? Blessings to you:)

Molly Noble Bull said...

Thanks for writing, Karen. I hope you come back soon.
Love,
Molly

Moonine Sue Watson said...

I too would think it was a message from God. I actually thought it was kind of funny about your fingers being one over as I sometimes do that. But, you are right that it was a test, but now your friend knows you would call her if you had a prompting that you thought God wanted you to call her. There is a lesson of obedience there also.

Molly Noble Bull said...

Dear Moonine Sue,
Thanks for writing. And thanks for your kind words.
Love,
Molly

Nikki Arana said...

I was recently put to a similar test myself. And I felt so GUILTY about it that I went to the Bible and ask the Lord to release me from my guilt. He brought the book of James to my mind, so I turned to it in my Amplified Bible. And right there in the second verse of Chapter 1 I read: 2-Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort . . .

I am very familiar with that verse and concept, but in the amplified version there was a second clause: 2-Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort OR FALL INTO VARIOUS TEMPTATIONS.

That is what I had done I had fallen into a temptation. And James was saying to count it joy! Joy? Why? Because of what he says next: 3-Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.
4-But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.

We are tested because it is God’s way of refining us. I sure learned my lesson, just as you learned yours. I will never again knowingly tell the tiniest lie, not even a lie of omission. God knows we aren’t perfect and because He loves us He continues to train us. I praise and thank Him for that. We are forgiven. Rejoice.

Nikki Arana

Coming Soon
The Shadow of Death
"Would you share your faith
if it would cost you your life?"

Molly Noble Bull said...

Dear Nikki,
Thanks for writing. It was great to hear from the REAL Nikki.
Nikki and I are both novelists, and we met when I judged one of her novels in a contest when she was yet unpublished. I knew then that Nikki would one day become a wonderful writer, and she has proved me right.
May the Lord continue to bless you, Nikki, my friend.
Love,
Molly
www.mollynoblebull.com

Miralee Ferrell said...

While I agree with you about not lying, the Lord also looks at the intent of our heart, and yours was to do good, not evil. Nikki may not have had any big issues going on at the time, but the Lord could still have wanted you to pray for her.

Molly Noble Bull said...

Thanks for writing, Miralee, and for your kind words. The Lord speaks to His people in many ways, and it is important to be aware of that.
Love,
Molly

KellyL said...

Hi Molly :-)
YOUR writing "My Recent Visit to the Twilight Zone" made me smile, because I too just allowed a "little white lie" to slip from my lips.
Long story short, I was at the dentist yesterday getting a very expensive crown replaced which had chipped while eating apiece of toast.
The dentist was replacing this crown for free~ and I was sooo grateful. But, I had been eating this AMAZING pecan pie that was given to us for christmas. So, it was at the back of my mind while I talked to the dentist about "keeping the rules of having a crown". OOPS, I said, "and, I was following the rules, NO nuts."
Yikes. I can't BELIEVE how easy that was to do! Maybe, just by some small chance that they would change their minds on the free crown! yuk.
Thanks for sharing, you helped to convict me again,and repent.
Kelly Liberto

Molly Noble Bull said...

Dear Kelly and Everybody,
Most Christians would never tell outright lies. But somehow, we think it's okay to tell little white ones.
Not true. See the Book of Revelation 21:27.
The good news is that if we repent of our sins, the Lord is faithful to forgive us.
Love,
Molly