It’s often difficult to tell when and where reality emerges with life– the moment a thought manifests itself in motion or when an idea coming to fruition in action. Perhaps the trauma of pain, anguish and uncertainty becomes the epicenter of an unspeakable reality.
Unequivocally, reality hits hard and is inexpressibly tangible, rocking the very depth of our souls and leaving our spirits broken or solidifying the heartfelt resolve of earnest faith. However, we too easily credit our joyfully temporal realities to our own power and strength; and similarly, we point accusatory fingers at God for realities that hamper our perceived happy realities. We have the tendency to perceive only the reality we want to see and so we live in a reality of twisted fantasies.
Zion was built for you and for me, a place where we can dwell with God in the realities that define our lives. It is the physical representation of who God is for us in our lives– the insurmountable stronghold. The Psalmist writes that we should examine our Zion; the place where God manifests in our lives.
You will notice that God manifests all aspects of our lives when we examine ourselves carefully. Our examination compels us to recount who He is as the guide to our reality. The good and the bad of what we perceive in an unfair life is found emerging from Zion. I am not going to rationalize senselessness in our lives, where the pieces and parts just don’t add up to anything a good God would do; but it doesn’t mean that God’s reality can’t be found through those circumstances. Simply said, your reality may suck tremendously right now, but it doesn’t mean that your life reality has to be defined by it or even that you are prisoner held by it. This means the pain and anguish you are currently suffering is the point where God’s reality emerges in your journey of faith to replace your current hopeless reality.
We have a hard time swallowing all of that. Especially since God is not tangible like a fortified city. But reality is what emerges from Him, not the terror that seizes our lips when people attack and come to pillage our lives. God calls you to His city everyday, but we are not ready to leave our fantasy, we don’t want reality to emerge in our lives. Yet deep down inside, we know we should accept it.
How do we accept God’s reality? We begin by taking a look at the towers, ramparts and citadels in our lives placed strategically by God for us. The “towers” of where God places us are the friends, family, acquaintances, colleagues that stand watch over our lives, guarding against predators and attacks. We usually don’t listen to these people and resent them when our fantasies are struck by reality, but they are part of the reality God places us in.
The “ramparts” or shelters in life are provided for you in the form of reliability– these are people are the love givers whom dependability is proven when you face difficulties. You may very well be a rampart to another person and that is a reality of His kingdom, because you and I fortify each other.
Let’s not forget the “citadels” in our lives, those people that influence our lives deeply and meaningfully. Like a citadel provides direction and guidance for a fortress, living citadels provide for hope, they are an essential part of God’s reality. They are there for you by the will of God to change your reality into His own.
God is the embodiment of all these things. He is the mover and shaker of all people. Because our God is forever and ever, His reality is never ending. God is all these things to reality as reality emerges from who He is and His providence alone. God’s reality is the only one worth tangibly living. We need to find where that reality emerges in our lives from God. Come with me and see God’s reality emerging from where you are placed today.