Raw Faith by Van Norman Kasey;Chandler Matt;Chandler Lauren;

Author:Van Norman, Kasey;Chandler, Matt;Chandler, Lauren;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: RELIGION / Christian Life / General
ISBN: 5395547
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
Published: 2014-04-01T00:00:00+00:00

Toxin #1: Denial

Denial is toxic to our minds and to our faith because it gives us a false sense of what is real. Denial leads us to think, Hey, things aren’t so bad after all and causes us to avoid dealing with situations that need to be faced.

Maybe you grew up in a home where abuse and alcoholism were the norm. If you deny that fact and refuse to let God change you, you will likely become bitter or continue the abusive cycle yourself.

Perhaps someone wounded you when you were a teenager. If you deny that pain and pretend everything is fine, you give anger and hurt the upper hand, and you rob yourself of the joy and peace that could be yours.

Maybe someone you love lied to you and betrayed you. If you deny that reality, you will eventually close in on yourself and miss out on the possibility that God could redeem that relationship or use your experience to help someone else.

While denial can vary in scope, at the root of every act of denial we find the seed of pride. Denial ultimately shows a lack of trust on our part. When we deny our problems and circumstances—and the role we play in those circumstances—we’re essentially saying, God, I don’t think you’re big enough to handle this, so I’m going to cope with it by not coping with it.

Denial isn’t something new to our world, either. Genesis 18 tells the story of Sarah, Abraham’s wife, who laughed to herself when she overheard that she would give birth to a son in her old age. When Sarah was confronted about her laughter, she denied it. In doing so, she learned a lesson we should all take heed of: you can’t pull anything over on God. In verse 15 she gets a holy call-out from the Lord. The Kasey version goes something like this: “Oh no, honey . . . you laughed, and you know it!”

Then there’s the well-known account of denial by Peter, one of Jesus’ closest friends and followers. After a servant girl called him out in front of a large crowd, Peter vehemently denied knowing Jesus. When he realized what he’d done, “he broke down and wept” (Mark 14:72).

In its simplest form, denial is when we choose not to take responsibility for our own reality and our own sin. Even if no one ever calls us out and we manage to rationalize everything to ourselves, God knows the truth. And ultimately we are accountable to him and him alone.

Our faith can’t grow in the midst of a difficult situation if we never look at it head-on.

Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.” For God understands all hearts, and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve.

PROVERBS 24:12

Living in denial is not the answer—it will only lead us further and further away from true faith, freedom, and purpose.

So let’s get personal. Are there some

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