July 2018

Every one of us have
probably heard the famous
words, fake it till
you make it. Though
possibly loaded with good intention
I always feel a bit of contradiction
whenever I hear them.
When someone says fake it
till you make it in my presence
I think to myself “who are you
fooling?” The devil who roams
to and fro, up and down or in
and out of our lives? God, who’s
omnipresent? Family or friends,
who most likely know all there is
to know about us anyway? The
spiritual leader who is guided by
the omnipresent God, who’s already
seen it all?
“Who exactly is believing what it
is we’re faking?” Since reality is
always ready to meet us where
you are…most likely we don’t
believe it yourselves.
Sadness can never be masked
as joy. Pain can never be
masked as soothing. Depression
can never be masked as exuberant
and weakness can never be
masked as strength. Reality is
that trying to mask any of these
emotions only gives them more
power and space when healing
doesn’t come rapidly. And some
situations will take time to get
through
Let your first confession be the
identity of your reality.
You are in a crisis. You are in
survival mode. You have no idea
what’s coming next. Or how to
handle what’s going on now. All
you can see is the fear in front
of you. That fear is blocking your
view of God and breaking concentration.
Acknowledge your
opponent. And ask God to help
you overcome.
One of the best scripture ever includes
the words “the joy of the
Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah
8:10
But what about when that crisis
is draining you? I mean, really
sucking all the strength out
of your body? Is God’s joy your
strength then? Or should you
just fake that nothings bothering
you?
Reality. When a crisis invokes a
shocking onto the physical body
it then releases fear. Fear then
releases doubt, making it hard
to believe joy is present, or that
you have the strength do anything.
Knowing this, if I told you
to pretend that your fine, or if I
could convince you that the enemy
isn’t as powerful a force as
you believe, then I’d be faking it.
I have yet to encounter anyone
who hasn’t experienced hard
times – crisis that has left them
breathless, tearless and comfortless.
And yes in moments like
these finding joy seems hopeless
and draining task. But if you
will believe the son of David in
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-4, then you’ll
gain the understanding that what
you’re experiencing has a purpose
for the season that you’re
in, and that your time of crying
will turn into season of laughter.
You’ll also gain the understanding
that hopeless doesn’t mean
helpless or impossible.
In 2014 I had the opportunity to
experience every emotion possi-
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