Facing Reality

Then you put a leader over us. We went through fire and flood, but you brought us to a place of great abundance.

Time to be real…hate that.  I am really great at pretending everything is just fine when the reality of the situation rears its ugly face and I come to the strange realization that I have been hiding again.  Each time I think I have things all figured out, something sneaks up and grabs me out of no where and it shakes me until I stare it in the face and deal with it.  Sigh, some call it walking through the fire, I like to call it a cry in the wilderness.  No wait, SCREAMING, in the face of distress.

I spent a lot of my life making everything on the surface seem fine.  I held a full time job, raised two kids, went to church and made the world think things were just honky dory when the reality of the situation was I was falling apart piece by piece and no one even noticed.  I lived each day the same as the one before and it seemed as if I did not know any different.  As I began to seek God in my life, things began to change.  I cried every time the worship started at church.  I began to share my story with the people God had placed in my life.  God began cracking my shell and soon I was spilling my guts out everywhere and this is where God could finally take over.

Once I was an open book so to speak, God could start writing new chapters again.  He created a new life for me and it was if I slammed the first book closed, right when I thought things were all in alignment again.  I moved into a whole new book even though there were unfinished chapters in the first one.  For you see, I moved on with me and what God had set in motion for my life and left my kids behind in the other book.  Hmmmm, I wonder how that happened?

Today, I faced the reality of a split family face to face, nose to nose.  Though I have moved out of my life of disarray I seemed to have left my own children to fend for themselves…who does that?  In light of all of this, I can see hope.  Now that things have been brought to the surface they can be dealt with.  Now that each party has been forced so to speak to spill their guts, things can change for the better.  Facing reality may not seem like a fun thing to do, however it opens up our hearts for the possibility for change.

Facing reality can be labeled as toxic, not to be messed with our hearts are not open to the possibility of things being set right.  Facing reality means you have to stop pretending everything is okay.  Facing reality means there are some changes that will occur.  Finally, facing reality means coming to terms with rejection, pride, self-worth, pain, brokenness, heart issues, run-a-way emotions, anger issues and so many other ugly things about ourselves.  Is it time for a reality check in your life?