The Real and The Unreal

A friend of mine shared this with me and gave me permission to post it on our blog. Hope you enjoy her insights as much as I did!

 

I have been very blessed this week as I prepared for our Ladies Bible study on Acts 12 about Peter's release from prison. I was interested in all the ways the real did not seem real, the unreal seemed to be so important.

Examples
Peter thinks he is seeing a vision as the angel walks him out of the prison when in fact, it was a very real experience.

The believers accuse Rhoda, the servant girl, as being "mad" or crazy, when in fact, she is reporting the truth

The believers were praying for Peter, but when he showed up, they said it wasn't really Peter, it was his angel!

Herod believes the soldiers are at fault for Peter's release, so he orders their death.

Herod believes the people when they say that his voice is the voice of a god -- and he dies for not giving God the glory.

It's a whole chapter with "unreal" situations; but in v.24, we are told that the Word of God grew and multiplied.

So, that brings me to my reading in Joshua 9 where what appears real is not true. The princes of Israel believe that the dry and moldy bread of the Gibeonites is truly from their long journey - pure deception. They believe the word of the Gibeonites that they came from a far country, when in fact, they were neighbors. They claimed their sandals and garments had become worn from the long journey. They were liars and were acting out of fear - the fear of being conquered by Israel. They ended up being slaves - losers of freedom. V.14 says that Joshua and his leaders asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord.

Challenge for me is to be careful -- most of the time things are not as they appear. I can't let myself be ruled by emotions, reactions to what I see.

Just as Israel should have sought the counsel of the LORD before covenanting with the Gibeonites, so we, too, need to seek God's counsel, advice, direction in all we do lest we be deceived by the enemy of our souls.