Is It Real?

There are so many turbulent things going on in the world that we sometimes ask ourselves, “Is it real?” Political intrigue and unrest, changing social mores, and different teachings in the church, are evidence of significant change. These events are almost surreal and can cause us to become frightened or confused.

Asking the Right Question

Change is an inevitable fact of life, whether we wish it to be so or not. Given that this is true, the question we ask takes on new meaning, but not in how we apply it to what’s going on. Rather, that question ought to be applied to us and not to the circumstances we see unfolding in our world.

What do I mean by that? I mean that when we ask the question, “Is it real? ” we must apply it to ourselves regarding our faith. When we are confronted with the unknown, or when we are faced with the potentially violent upheaval of all that we have grown accustomed to, or when things seem to be spinning out of control, how does our faith hold up under the pressure? Is it real?

Storm Watch

Jesus told us that things would happen to us that would test us. We are promised that we will go through events and circumstances that will try to cause us to doubt God and His Word, and He referred to these times as storms.

Matthew 7:24-27

Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

26 But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.  (NKJV)

The same storm came to both the wise and the foolish and we can expect that it will also happen to us, so what’s the deciding factor between proving someone is wise versus someone who is foolish? It comes down to how we respond to the storm, and that response is based on whether we have real faith and believe God’s Word. If we truly believe what God says then it is real to us.

Preparing for the Storm

Great numbers of people attend church, give to charities, volunteer their time, and perform other notable acts of good. The problem is that those performances don’t require us to actually believe God’s Word. It’s easy to ‘do the right thing’ when our life is humming along nicely. We aren’t inconvenienced too much. We give out of our abundance. We make time for others when we have some time to spare. But what about when times are rough? What about when we suffer lack? What about when life is spinning out of control and it feels like we are ready to implode? That is the kind of storm Jesus tells us will come. That is the time we need to consider our faith and ask ourselves, “Is it real?” Those are the times we should prepare for so that when the storm comes we are ready for it. The time to prepare is now, not when the storm is upon us!

Since it’s clear that we can’t really rely on anything in this world then we need to place our faith and confidence in the unshakeable, unchanging Word of God. We need to be sure our faith is real and that it is established by God Himself, and the only way to do so is to read, study, and meditate on the Word.

As we face the trials of change we can have confidence, we can have real faith, that our God will see us through anything that comes our way. By focusing on the Lord and keeping our trust in His Word we prove that our faith is real.