Reality and God

I have a closet full of toys – and still more in various and sundry places in my home – all meant to capture the spirit of a child at play.  The little ones still come to my home, and sometimes the bigger ones too, and I love when they are fully engaged in play, especially creative play.  Tubs of Lego pieces, Lincoln Logs, police cars and motorcycles, dress up for clowns and princesses, dishes, pots and pans, and toy foods for the aspiring chef, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, crazily, uniquely dressed, trains and tracks, and ........  It’s fun; it’s engaging; it’s creative; it grows a child’s thinking, inspires dreams, gives expression to his feelings; it even teaches.  But it is not real.  It is imaginary.  It is a good place for a child to develop foundations for life.  But the child can not stay there.  The child must learn the difference between what is real and what is imaginary – what is the substance of dreams and what is the stuff life is truly made of.  Dreams do sometimes come true.  Hard work and persistence do sometimes help us reach the goals we set for ourselves.  And for the believer, doing life God’s way, following the stated and unstated rules of behavior and family and relationships, surely, the reality we long for, will be found.  But reality speaks, and sometimes shouts, and reality isn’t always the way we want it to be.

I have embraced moms and dads whose children have died.  I have tried to help others who are depressed, lonely, rejected, overwhelmed.  I have spoken words of truth to the one whose inner person has been shredded by abuse or abandonment.  Both challenge and support are given to those who face addiction, to those whose life choices have filled them with regret, and they see no way out.  What do we do when reality shouts and life is not the way we wanted it to be?   The world of pretending or imagining or stuffing or hiding may seclude us for a season, but the reality still shouts, even when we numbly try to silence it.

Apart from acknowledging what is real, I cannot begin to respond in appropriate ways.  I can’t even attempt to give my whole self to responding in godly, trusting, dependent ways, until I acknowledge the truth of what is real.  I left a broken family, a heart longing for affection and relationship, and the dark shadows of abuse and wrong choices, to attend a high school on a college campus.  I was free to pretend that I was as “normal” as any one else.  But the brokenness was still there, and appropriate responses and the impacting, deep experiencing of God’s grace could not come, until I was able to say, “This is real.”  Acknowledging what is real is part of a godly acceptance.  As much as I want to deny what happened, or is happening, as much as I want to scream, “No!!  Not me!!  Not our family!!” – I must acknowledge reality – it is real – it did happen – it is still happening – it is imposing its consequences day after day.  I must acknowledge what is real; I must acknowledge the consequences of what is real; and then, I must acknowledge that my God has the answers I need.  He longs to walk with me.  He longs to care for me.  He longs to place my feet and my whole being on a path He will walk with me.

– Bev


(Related Bible reading: Proverbs 3:5,6; John 15:5)