Alternate Reality

This past weekend we had an incredible worship event at our Clayton Campus called Ignite. We spent about an hour just soaking in God’s presence and I believe that worship is a rich environment in which to hear the voice of the Lord. That evening I sensed that people had allowed their situations to redefine their reality instead of trusting God at His word. We’ll get back to that in a moment but for now I want to share a passage of Scripture with you.

“As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored.” - Matthew 9:27-30a (NIV)

Many of us have walked through an extended season of challenges. Maybe it’s an illness, or a grown child who has lost their way or perhaps you were looking forward to retirement until the economy took a nosedive. Anyway as the days turned to weeks and the weeks to years we have accepted our current circumstances as our new fate. Remember that Psalm 23 says God takes us ‘through’ not ‘to’ the valley of the shadow of death. Don’t get me wrong, God rewards faithfulness. It’s not like we’ve given up and quit on God, but we’ve lost sight of the calm waters and green pastures that are waiting for us on the other side. We’ve pushed God’s blessing off into eternity because it’s safer that way. We wouldn’t want to get our hopes up after all!

Let me make one thing clear - Jesus healed these two guys THIS SIDE of heaven! And He did it according to their faith not His. So what do you believe God is able to do? Seriously. Can He heal you? Can He reach your lost loved one? Can He provide for you abundantly in spite of the economy? A good friend of mine once told me that, “Faith isn’t denying the facts. It is demanding that they submit themselves to God’s truth.” Don’t settle for any less than God’s absolute best for you. Don’t let the world, the devil or any situation determine your reality. It’s time to get your hopes up again!