“God can’t do anything with our ‘fake’, but He can do all things with our ‘faith’.” ~CANDICE COATES

Not too long ago, I was surfing through my social media feed, and like many times before, I came across several posts saying, “Fake it til you make it,” or, “I’m just going to fake it til I make it.”

I am sure, that you, like me, have seen or heard that saying before or have maybe even made it your mantra a few or more times during your life. This particular day, however, the Lord interrupted my social media perusal and said, “Candice, I can’t do anything with your ‘fake’, but I can do all things with your faith.”

You see, we have been cultivated in a culture that has taught us that our true feelings and emotions are not only disturbing to others but sadly and falsely, unacceptable to display, especially before God. We have subconsciously embraced the ideology that says if we express any sign of fear, or anger, or pain, that we are not walking in faith and certainly not trusting God.

So what do we do? We fake it. We fake having it all together. We fake being emotionally and mentally well. We fake being happy or content, and all the while the enemy sits back and congratulates himself for a job well done while we grovel in inward fear, terrified that if we are honest about where we are or how we feel with others, least of all Christ, then we will be punished for it.

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.” ~PSALM 34:19

First, let us all, from this moment forward, take hold of the truth that even in Christ we as the righteousness of God will still suffer, yes suffer, many afflictions. Even Christ goes on to assure Peter that those who follow Him and give up their old lives for the Gospel will face persecution (MARK 10:28-30).

Trouble and pain, let downs, and disappointments were not eradicated from our life experience just because we allowed Christ to redeem us. No, on the contrary, because we have now become the children of God, and joint-heirs with Christ (ROM.8:15-17), we are now the enemy of the world and can expect issues.

BUT, and this is a very big BUT, our Daddy God is faithful to deliver us out of them all. But here is the thing, and this too is a big but, we can only get grace and deliverance in the time of our needs when we actually are honest about them.

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” ~HEBREWS 4:16

Boldly is to have courage and confidence. What are we, the children of God having courage and confidence in? We are having the courage that we are accepted before God in whatever state we are in. And we can take courage in knowing that as we come we can have the confident assurance that His love is for us, and just like any good earthly father, He wants to heal our hurts and make us whole.

SO WHAT IS THE ROOT THAT IS CHOKING OUR CONFIDENT COURAGE?

What is it that has convinced us that the only way to survive our circumstances is by wearing masks and being false to our feelings and fake to others?

Fear.

And what does the Lord say about fear to His children?

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” ~I JOHN 4:18

Our not being confident in how much Christ Jesus loves us is what allows fear to come in and push us from faith into fake. It is the teether that drags us into condemnation which is not of God because our Father says unto us that, “There is therefore now, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (ROM. 8:1) and family, that is you and me.

And what does our Loving Father say about His Spirit and us?

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” ~II TIMOTHY 1:7

The Spirit He has given us is a spirit of Love, Power, and Soundness of Mind. This means that because we are so loved, that we never have to be fake before our Heavenly Father. We don’t have to fake it til we make it. And I have a great Hallelujah on that score.

We are blessed to come boldly before Him in faith that He loves us where we are, and in the truth of our hearts, He will take our Faith in HIS LOVE for us and get us to the place we desire to be. It is through faith that we make and because of His love, we know we shall.

~Poiema, Poetry in Motion

 

–Candice Coates is an author, blogger, and contributor to Ambo TV. This article originally appeared on her website www.icameforthesoup.com.