Day 17 – Real

"Each time Jesus said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Corinthians 12:9-10

One of the books we read to our children before bed occasionally is The Velveteen Rabbit. It’s a beautiful children’s story of a stuffed rabbit that belongs to a little boy. The other toys looked down on the toy rabbit due to the fact that they looked more real than the rabbit. They had gears and moving parts and made noises while the rabbit was simply stuffed and made of velveteen. The rabbit’s only friend was an old toy horse that was worn and tattered through years of play. His name was Skin Horse. One day in the closet the Velveteen Rabbit asked Skin Horse a very significant question:

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

For the follower of Christ who longs to make an impact in this world, there is nothing more important than receiving the gift of being REAL. You see, there is a common misconception regarding the faith that when someone chooses to follow Christ, all his or her problems will fade away. If a struggle comes your way then all you have to do is believe more, pray more, attend more, quote Scripture more – just do more. As the Scripture above indicates, maybe the answer isn’t trying to be more, but trying to be less.

As difficulties and struggles come our way, it would seem that Paul’s example is that our best plan of attack for these problems is to acknowledge our own frailty and weakness. This seems so counter to what we are taught in our culture that you make much of what you can do and don’t talk about what you can’t do. But Paul reminds us that the way of Christ is a different way. It’s when we begin to acknowledge that our hair has been loved off, that our eyes have dropped out, and that we’re loose in the joints and shabby that we become more REAL. And REAL is GOOD! It hurts. It’s time consuming. It isn’t fun sometimes. And it is there that we discover Jesus who is perfectly strong and loving and who longs to hold us, carry us and strengthen us. It’s when we are weak that we are strong. It’s when we are vulnerable that we are protected. It’s when we are transparent that we are REAL. And that’s exactly what the world is looking for.

As followers of Christ, we need to demonstrate to the world that there are some REAL Christians out there who are not afraid of their weaknesses and who find their strength in Christ. The reason is because the world is full of people who are weak. The world is full of people who are covering up their struggles with all their gears, moving parts and noises. How freeing it will be for them to know that there is a place they can come with their struggles and find strength. In order for that to happen, though, we are going to have to learn the discipline of being REAL. Not moping, not a doggie-downer, not depressing. Just REAL.

As you pray today, use the following as prompters in your thoughts with God.

• Thank God that He gives you the freedom to be yourself and to be weak in His presence.
• Thank God that He gives you strength through the Holy Spirit through your weaknesses.
• Ask God to help you be more aware of the weak areas of your life and to be open and honest about your need for Jesus’ strength.
• Ask God to help you be more transparent with fellow believers about who you really are, struggles and all.
• Ask God to help you be more authentic with those who don’t walk with Christ so that they may see Christ’s strength in you.
• Ask God for opportunities to get involved in the lives of other people and to be a source of support and hope through their struggles as you point them to Jesus.