"Reality Check" | February 29, 2004 | Link To Us | Index
This sermon is for your spiritual edification and to spread a little hope and cheer. Job 28

What is reality? Is it something that we can hold in our hands, or is it something more subtle, just out of reach when we are not up to par in the way we think and feel?

Is what we see our reality? One would hope so. But sometimes what we see is not reality because what we may perceive to be the truth may be something else.

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that the devil controlled the world. I don't believe he does, but let's just say he does. There is so many bad things that happen in the world that could happen as a result of what the devil might do. So many killings, maimings, thievery, lustful perverted pursuits, and terrorism. One could almost think that the devil is in control. Or at least that is the perception of so many people.

But why the devil? Could it be that people are the cause of the problems in this world and they are not being coaxed by the devil, but just their inherent greed that they let get the best of them when grabbing the brass ring is never enough? These are all questions that need to be answered in order to understand what reality is.

What about dreams? The Bible is full of many dreamers and interpretations of dreams. No matter how fantastic or weird a dream is it symbolizes something or events that may not have happened yet. Joseph and Daniel got insight about what to do and interpret dreams. So even though dreams can be really strange sometimes, they are to a certain extent a possible off shoot definition of reality.

We go about our every day life, trying to make sense of things, never knowing if what we are doing is the right thing to do. We may seek Gods guidance, but how do we know when God has answered our questions? Some of us need the exact answer thrown into our brains because of how dense we sometimes get. In other words, we get what is more properly known as a "Reality Check."

But does God hit us with answers because that is reality or does he answer prayer in much more subtle ways that we may not comprehend or care to comprehend at first? So in other words, He can be communicating with you right now, but because of your lack of desire to try to listen, you just ignore the hints that God gives you.

But in order to understand our reality and understand why we are here, we need to do a little bit of analysis of our surroundings and maybe God is talking to us through the trees or the flowers, or maybe even the strangers who walk by us on the street.

Do you ever remember seeing somebody in a strange outfit that walked past you that caught your attention for more than a fleeting moment? Later you may think that in today's society there is nothing different about how that person is dressed than a lot of people you have seen, but for some reason that person took you by surprise. What does it mean though? Could it be a sign from God? Could it be an answer to prayer? And if so, what is that answer? And what question was it answering?

I believe that in time, in the evolutionary ways of people that eventually we will all be tuned into what God has in mind for us. It may take a few more centuries or maybe a millennium, but there could be a future where people will get closer to God and be able to understand fully what He wants for their lives.

Hard for us to imagine right now, but what if? To me that would be the ultimate reality, because we would know what God wants for us, why that is, and what our ultimate destiny will mean to us and mankind as a whole.

So how do we get to that point? We do so by attaining a lasting relationship with God. Now some people will say, "I do have a lasting relationship with God" and then if you were to be a fly and follow them around you may find out very differently.

There is so much arrogance, deceit, and rampant violence in the world. It is greed, lust, and the pursuit of happiness, which is what the greed and lust are precursors for, at least in the minds of people that think this way a large part or all of their lives.

If you were to imagine looking into a large hole, an abyss, and you wondered what would happen if you fell down into it, you could die when you hit bottom. But a lot of us, at one time of our lives, have fallen into the abyss and we hit bottom and it was as if a part of us was stripped from us never to return. Part of us emptied out. We became unwhole. Then when we decided that enough was enough, we prayed and started on the correct path with God beckoning us to a better life.

But it is unfortunate that we sometimes wait until we have struck the bottom of the abyss before we get a reality check. We can finally look behind and possibly see what we have done wrong. It is at that time, that we face reality in the hardest of ways. But yet if we are believers in a God that cares for us, we will be able to pick ourselves up. We will wipe the dusts of dread from our conscious minds. We will seize the moment to let God be a part of our lives.

But it is this sock in the stomach of life that makes us re-evaluate who we are and what we have become and who we could be if only we tried. This is the time when we need to shed the old ways and see the light. The light that is God's love.

Now that is reality. So make your life full with God in your heart always, and you may be able to avoid the abysses all together. And wouldn't that be awesome.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to make my life more awesome through you. Help me to avoid the abyss. Guide me instead to know what your reality for my life is. And give me the daily hope and cheer that will bring me the reality that I will find through your love and your understanding. I thank you for all your many blessings. Amen.

Benediction: Now, Lord, Bless us in our daily lives. Help us to smell the roses whenever possible, to shine our light on those less fortunate than us, and lead us in the path we should go. For you are the light that keeps our path well lit. Help us to follow it, until we meet you, in a land where milk and honey abound, a place where our most wonderful dreams are fulfilled. Amen.

Hi, my name is Bryan, a messenger of hope to all those who need some cheer in their lives. God Bless.

© 2004 Bryan Hill