Lockdown Day 14: SHEDDING ILLUSIONS

So, has COVID-19 and the subsequent lock-down shaken you or stirred you? How overwhelmingly comforting to know that in the midst of a shaken world, God remains unshaken – that we can replace our false illusion of a perfect world, with the perfect truth of a crucified Christ.

We are currently exploring the article by Jonathan Merritt: THE GIFT OF DISILLUSIONMENT – How the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry on Palm Sunday helps us trade in false hopes for a truer picture of God – especially in a season of uncertainty and fear. Today we look at SHEDDING ILLUSIONS.

Merritt concludes as follows:

I’ve learned to manage my pain disorder, but it has persisted despite my best efforts. Yet I refuse to let disappointment sever my relationship with God. And over time, I’ve begun to uncover and shed illusions. I’m dismantling mirages I’ve constructed around productivity, identity, and self-worth. No longer can I work 12-to-14-hour days. Or pretend that who I am is enhanced by how much I produce. Or ground my sense of worth in accomplishments and accolades. Or pretend that God will keep me healthy or heal my every ache and pain.

I have traded these lies for a truth: that in times of difficulty, God offers us his presence, not a parachute. This exchange has transformed my disappointment into disillusionment. And disillusion turned out to be a horrible, wonderful gift.

What we experience as disappointment is an invitation to give up holding tight to what we hope is true. To stop trying to cast God in our image. To let God be who God is, not who we wish God would be.

The choice is ours. And who knows? If we decide to step off the dopamine roller coaster, maybe we’ll find ourselves at the foot of a cross, giving up all we have for the One who gave up everything for us.