About illusions and delusions…
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all
men. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions,
and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13
while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and
Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all
wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do
what is good. (NIV)
In our modern age of technology, we live in a world of illusions and
delusions. We live in a world where we are totally dependent upon others for
food, clothing, and essential services of all kinds. We depend upon our
government to provide essential services and security. We live in a world where
what we think we see is not always what is there. On television, what may appear
to be real may be only a graphic image created on a computer. In the same way,
when we face a crisis in our lives, what we see may indeed not be what is real.
In a crisis, what we see may be only an illusion. We may see a circumstance that
appears to be totally hopeless and without any solution. However, we are often
easily deluded by the power of darkness. Quite often, a circumstance that seems
hopeless is not hopeless. A circumstance that appears to have no way out has
many ways out. A circumstance that appears to be the end of all things, may be
just the beginning of many new things. One of the greatest illusions and
delusions of our life is associated with the time of death. For a Christian,
death is not the end but the beginning. In times of great suffering, we are not
involved in an end of anything but we are involved in what can be a beginning of
greatness for God. Each of us has the opportunity to live our lives in a way
that glorifies God. The worst circumstances sometimes give us the greatest
opportunities to glorify Him. The most difficult trials sometimes give us the
opportunity to shine the love of God out to others like no other opportunity
could do. The situations that seem to be totally devoid of God can be an
opportunity for us to bring the light and love of His being into a time of
darkness. When we face a crisis, we must remember that behind what we think we
see as darkness is the everlasting and overpowering love of God shining out. It
is a delusion to think the darkness has won or has overpowered the light of God.
It is an illusion when we think the darkness has overpowered the light of God.
