Critics of religion say it’s all make believe. They say the Bible is nothing but a collection of fairy tales. And people who profess faith in God may as well believe in magic and unicorns.
When I hear people talk about faith like that, I scratch my head. Some of the stories in the Bible are remarkable, but there’s nothing akin to fairy dust and houses made of candy.
The Bible doesn’t sugarcoat human suffering, corruption, or the consequences of evil. It never encourages us to close our eyes and pretend that things are better than they actually are. Quite the opposite. Scripture urges us to open our eyes wide and see things clearly. We’re not to deny reality but to confront it.
That doesn’t sound like some kind of nursery rhyme to me.
Properly understood, faith and spirituality illuminate our blind spots and help us see the unfiltered truth. Because, as Jesus said, it’s the truth that sets us free (John 8:31-32).
Faith is an anchor in times of uncertainty. It fills our lives with genuine hope because it’s rooted in reality. It proclaims a truth that is so all encompassing that it applies to everyone, everywhere, throughout history.
For this reason and many others, a life anchored in faith is not fake or imaginary. It’s beautiful, life-giving, and rugged enough to withstand adversity because we don’t close our eyes and make believe, we open our eyes wide to the truth.
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