SOME THINGS DON’T “JUST” GO AWAY

Revelations 3:17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

Reading this verse, my mind was cast to Hebrews 11:1 ‘now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things’. So one could argue that while the first part of the verse were declarations of faith, the second half appears to pull those declarations back down to earth to establish the real state of affairs.

There can be such a fine line between faith and delusion, because both hold on to firm convictions even when evidence points to a contrary reality. However, in the context of today’s text, what we see is a refusal to acknowledge what were glaring weaknesses, requiring attention in favour of an alternative that makes anyone feel better. More like ‘ignoring the log in the eye’ as Jesus described.

Of course having wealth and abundance is preferred, if the alternative is poverty, blindness and nakedness. Nonetheless, such is the extent of that alternative that one cannot ignore their existence because they will not just disappear. Faith in fact, does acknowledge the presence of such alternative realities, but confronts them by seeing beyond.

You cannot simply pretend that some things don’t exist, especially if their effects are evident. But the call is not to dwell on them, but confront them through the eyes of faith.

#sly