God operates in truth

My godly friend L works as a therapist for a family with a severely developmentally delayed child. She has decided to move on and to ease herself gradually out of the position while training three new people who will replace her in part-time capacities. They have all applied to the same agency through which L is employed. The agency has a lot of hoops to jump through in order for someone to get hired, and it takes a lot of time to go through them all (a physical, clearances, fingerprints, etc.). In the meantime, the three women are working and need to get paid. My friend was away for a week so she told the family she would just fill out her time sheet as usual and give the money to the ladies. They all figured it was no big deal.

Unbelievably, the agency called her, something they have never done. A state auditor wanted to observe one of the agency's aids, and the agency asked L to be that aid. The agency asked if she would be with the child that day and she said, "Yes"-because to say no would mean she could not claim to have worked that day and get the money for the three ladies. That is to say, she lied. Her conscience now bothered her, though she had not felt she was doing anything wrong when she first decided on the arrangement.

Now L didn't know what to do. To call her agency contact person and tell the truth would also implicate the family she works for. It could be very big, like insurance fraud or something. She asked me what to do, and with her permission I called my upright friend David. First, after listening to the whole story, he asked me if I already knew what he would say. I replied, "You would tell her to tell the truth, wouldn't you?" He said, "Yes."

Then he explained to me that because God is Truth, He would not operate in a situation on our behalf unless we were walking in the truth. By trying to handle any problem with a lie, we are in effect closing ourselves off to the hope of His blessings and intervention. But when we tell the truth, we invite Him into our circumstances to glorify Himself. Moreover, the truth is the only place where we are free.

David suggested L explain the matter to her agency liaison just as she had explained it to me, and to trust in the Lover of her soul that even this will work out to her ultimate good.