Live in Reality Not Illusion

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” –John 16:33

 

Wouldn’t life be great if we knew how everything was going to work out and that in the end we get the smokin’ hot girl, that huge promotion, the white picket fence with the golden retriever out in the yard and the 2-3 kids? No, but seriously life would be much easier if we knew how the story ended and what path we should choose to get the best results and the happiest ending. Unfortunately life isn’t a two hour movie where we go through some tough times and drama and come out knowing the whole story at the end of it. We don’t get to look at our life as a third party and know everything. There are just some unanswered questions that we won’t know or understand this side of heaven.

The good news is that we have a third party who knows us from the beginning to the end of this life and what we will be doing in eternity. God has the bird’s eye view and he has given us a road map on how to live this life and prepare for the challenges that come along the way no matter our past or background. God is more concerned with where we’re going than where we’ve been. Life is more difficult for some than others and many times it is originated from a generational family sin along the way or from the poor choices certain people have made while pushing God away that have led to a tougher road for us now. This however cannot be an excuse to play the victim roll the rest of our life. A true man and leader is not allowed to blame others for where he’s at in his life and to make excuses. Instead, he finds his strength in God and blazes the trail ahead for a better tomorrow.  I can tell you though that the men of God who determine to honor God with their decisions and desire to carry on a Godly legacy and raise up their children to love, obey, and honor God can save their future family generations from a lot of trouble in their lives. Men, we need to forget this notion that we are owed happiness and a good life and that everything is going to work out exactly the way we think it should. That’s just not reality and the sooner we can realize that life isn’t a Hollywood script the easier it will be to embrace life’s struggle and rely on God’s strength to get us through this crazy, hard, yet interesting life.

I’m not proud to admit this but I recently watched one of those “fairy-tale” dating shows where the camera angles are just right and the men are perfectly groomed and the girl looked like a model and laughed at all his corny jokes in the end they got engaged and lived on “cloud 9” together. This is fantasyland and definitely not reality. Don’t think that your life is supposed to be scripted like that. Live in reality with God in control of your life’s wheel. Life is hard and you're not promised a smooth road. This is why God promises to be there with us to help along the way. We don’t have to lose heart because God is greater than anything this life will throw at you. Remember too that God is more powerful than Satan and he determines how much he will allow Satan to get away with in this lifetime. This doesn’t mean though that there won’t be hardship or consequences for the choices we make. Christ has overcome this world and he knows how it all works out in the end so why wouldn’t we follow him? After all, he is the director. He also loves us enough to give us a choice to serve him or to make a mess out of our lives apart from him. He didn’t make us to be robots. If we didn’t have a choice then it wouldn’t be authentic love. Keep in mind that your life isn’t what you see on television. Don’t expect everything to go smoothly. Embrace the challenge and show what a true man looks like as you grit it out and honor God through the struggle. Feel the heat of the fire and do the right thing anyway. This world needs gritty men of God who aren’t afraid to bleed for righteousness or get their hands a little dirty. This world is full of posers that look like men but act like boys in their behavor. Determine to be different from the crowd and remember that this life owes you nothing and God has already given you everything you need to this point and he will continue to do so.

Even Christ wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty and he certainly wasn't living a fantasy life while he was on earth. Instead he kept his eyes on the prize and embraced the struggle as a true man.