“For your hearts are hard and insensitive to me—you must be hard of hearing! For you’ve closed your eyes so that you won’t be troubled by the truth, and you’ve covered your ears so that you won’t have to listen and be pierced by what I say. For then you would have to respond and repent, so that I could heal your hearts.” – Acts 28:27 TPT
Illusions can seem so. very. real.
An illusion is defined as:
“a thing that is or is likely to be wrongly perceived or interpreted by the senses.”
“a deceptive appearance or impression.”
“a false idea or belief.”
It can be easy to find ourselves living a life that is the direct result of believing these “illusions” –believing they are real, when in reality the opposite is true.
It’s pretty wild when the Lord begins to allow us to see through the “illusions” in our lives — illusions that come from the shadows and dwell among the surface level, before our natural eyes.
Over the last couple of years the Lord has been taking me through all kinds of things I have feared so deeply in my life –bringing me to a place where I’ve had to face these fears head on.
Why?
Because He wants to show me that these fears I face are nothing but an illusion. Because He loves me, and He doesn’t want me to be held back from my purpose because of stupid fake illusions, and because perhaps it’s not so much about, just my own little life that I tend to get wrapped up in.
Have you ever ran into a spider web that you didn’t see? It catches you off guard doesn’t it? Many of us go flailing around trying to get out of the web, trying to shake away the “spider” that may or may not have been in that web. Or maybe we do see it, but we run from it because it looks so creepy.
But really, a spider web can be taken down with one, calm, simple swipe. If we see it. If we’re aware of it. If we have our eyes open, ready to see it.
These illusions of fear and intimidation are an attempt to shake me up, to take me off course, to take me away from who He has created me to be.
Here is what I must constantly remind myself of:
Fear is a whisper that tries to intimidate me, an “illusion” designed to persuade me to turn back, to cause me to hide away, to shrink back, to think “I can’t”, to persuade me to think that I can’t do what the Lord has led me to, causing me to go flailing about in a panic, swatting around at a “spider” that’s not even there… (and if he was there, don’t you think the Lord would help me to simply smash him?)
As we decide to follow in obedience, turning our hearts to the Lord, He will faithfully give us the eyes to see what’s really going on. He’ll begin to let us see the truth as we turn our hearts to Him, and the truth will begin to set us free as we begin to truly see.
“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:32
He will refresh and cleanse our eyes, enabling us to see what’s real, and what was set up as a “cleverly designed illusion”. He will guide our steps and reveal to us what we need to see! Thank you, Lord!
I love The Passion Translation of Psalm 62:
“I stand silently to listen for the one I love,
waiting as long as it takes for the Lord to rescue me.
For God alone has become my Savior.
2 He alone is my safe place;
his wrap-around presence always protects me.
For he is my champion defender;
there’s no risk of failure with God.
So why would I let worry paralyze me,
even when troubles multiply around me?
3 But look at these who want me dead,
shouting their vicious threats at me!
The moment they discover my weakness
they all begin plotting to take me down.
4 Liars, hypocrites, with nothing good to say.
All of their energies are spent
on moving me from this exalted place.
Pause in his presence
5 I am standing in absolute stillness, silent before the one I love,
waiting as long as it takes for him to rescue me.
Only God is my Savior, and he will not fail me.
6 For he alone is my safe place.
His wrap-around presence always protects me
as my champion defender.
There’s no risk of failure with God!
So why would I let worry paralyze me,
even when troubles multiply around me?
7 God’s glory is all around me!
His wrap-around presence is all I need,
for the Lord is my Savior, my hero, and my life-giving strength.
8 Join me, everyone! Trust only in God every moment!
Tell him all your troubles and pour out your heart-longings to him.
Believe me when I tell you—he will help you!
Pause in his presence
9 Before God all the people of the earth, high or low,
are like smoke that disappears,
like a vapor that quickly vanishes away.
Compared to God they’re nothing but vanity, nothing at all!
10 The wealth of the world is nothing to God.
So if your wealth increases, don’t be boastful or
put your trust in your money.
And don’t you think for a moment that
you can get away with stealing by overcharging others
just to get more for yourself!
11 God said to me once and for all,
“All the strength and power you need flows from me!”
And again I heard it clearly said,
12 “All the love you need is found in me!”
And it’s true that you repay people for what they do.”
Thank you, Lord!
-Heather ?