How many times have you heard that from a blogger or YouTuber?
“Can I just get real for a moment?”
What they usually mean is that they’re about to step away from the curated form of reality they portray online, a comfortable world they will return to before things get too awkward. But to be honest, the actual process of “getting real” is a tough, white-knuckled grind akin to crawling up a crumbling mountainside hand over fist. It’s a long-haul journey where you own your faith by diving deeper into realities no one wants to acknowledge. It’s a process that involves skinned knees, bruised shins, and maybe even a broken heart.
But it's also the darkness where God hides treasure, the hollow place where He splits open rocks to give us water (Isaiah 45:3; Judges 15:19).
It’s a terrifying place where the safe strongholds you’ve built around yourself are quaking, and as you plead and panic, God is whispering for you to trust Him and let the shaking happen so that what is unshakeable may remain (Hebrews 12:27).
It’s where I’ve been. Since the beginning of 2022, I’ve struggled with depression as the questions and closed doors and delayed dreams have piled up, threatening to obscure my victories. Throughout February, I took a break from social media to try to focus and find my footing in this strange tumult that looks so different from the life I planned.
Now that I’m back online, I can’t say that I’ve changed much. My desires, emotions, and fears remain. I haven’t seen giant red-letter answers to my biggest questions yet. But I know where my power lies. The power that enables you and I to move forward no matter what. It’s the power of decision.
I have made a decision to plant myself in the reality that God is good and has a good future for me regardless of whether it’s what I planned. It will be good, even if I don’t see it right now. And in that resolution, a path forward is illuminated. None of us need to stay stuck.
That’s what I’d like to share with you today. Whatever you’re facing, I want you to know you’re not alone, and there is a way through! It’s not an easy path, but it’s simple.
Simply believe that the future God has for you is good. Don’t worry about the details you’re not sure about yet. Lay aside the troubling imaginations that are tarnishing your faith. Offer those to God; take them captive and make them obedient to Christ because imprisoned with Him, those thoughts won’t be able to wreak havoc in your mind (Romans 12:21; 2 Cor. 10:5).
You and the Holy Spirit are the gatekeepers of your temple, so get rid of those hypotheticals that insist your life is hopeless.
If you’re picturing something hopeless, you’re being lied to. God’s promise is to do more than you could ask or think, but it’s not your job to figure out how (Ephesians 3:20; Proverbs 3:5-6).
The heart of our God gives the desolate one more abundance than the one who is depending on earthly resources (Isaiah 54:1).
With this in mind, your job is to rejoice in who He is and who He’s made you, even if you’re not currently bearing the fruit you want. In the next post, I will share some other action steps I’ve learned along this path. But for now, ask God to show you how to align with His ways and call them good, in Jesus’ Name.
You will receive an answer to that prayer! It’s your first step out of the wilderness.