REALITY CHECK
DAY 52: In the days when I worked as a corporate trainer there was a phrase I heard all too often when a leader didn't care much for a particular circumstance over which they had no control. Perhaps you have heard it, or used it. Either way, it is what it is... no I mean it, that's the phrase: It is what it is.
With the right inflection and with superior posture, a few could use it with a leader-ly air - as if to say: It is what it is but we can handle it. But that's just mincing nuances. No one uses the phrase It is what it is unless they are convinced that whatever it is can't be changed. It is a phrase that seems to state the obvious but actually implies helplessness. After all, if something could be done then they would use some of those other quaint colloquialisms like: This won't stand or Over my dead body or (borrowed from my grandpa) That's no hill for a stepper.
When you resort to "it is what it is" you are saying "It is as bad as you think, and they are out to get us ." I saw that on a bumper sticker once, but I think it fits. When we are helpless to change our circumstances it can be a frustrating and even scary place to be - no matter who you are. In such times you have no choice but to yield to reality. Well, that is, unless you are Jesus. Today, I saw clearly where He is concerned even reality yields to Him!
In Mark 5, a leader of the local synagogue where Jesus was traveling through came to him and fell at Jesus feet, terrified by his reality.
22 . . . Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.
Leader or not, this man had no power to change the reality that his daughter was dying. It was what it was. Even with his position and authority he was helpless. Yet when he heard about Jesus, he was not hopeless. Jesus went with him, and a huge crowd followed them. In this throng was a woman who was also faced with an overwhelming reality. For 12 years she had been from doctor to doctor seeking relief from internal hemorrhages that caused her great suffering. Now, she was broke and desperate.
26 She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse.
She had tried, but her reality would not yield. Her situation was helpless, but when she heard about Jesus it was not hopeless.
27 She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. 28 For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.
Imagine, the doctors had all told her "it is what it is." When she fell at the feet of Jesus, He told her, "You have been healed." Reality yielded to Jesus.
What about the little dying girl? By the time Jesus got to Jairus' home the neighbors were wailing and reported the girl was dead. "There's no use troubling the teacher now," they told Jairus. In other words, "It is what it is, and it's too late." But reality had not met Jesus.
36 Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” ... 39 He went inside and spoke to the people. . . "The child isn't dead; she is only asleep." ... 41 Holding her hand, He said to her "Get up, little girl!" And the girl who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around!
In this life, there are many times when we are in a position that we must yield to reality. Reality, however, will always yield to the desires of Jesus Christ. Jesus is sovereign over reality. In reading about these two individual people who were helpless I was encouraged two ways. First, no matter what my reality looks like, I, too can fall at the feet of Jesus and ask for His intervention. If He so desires, reality has no chance against His will. An equally powerful lesson, though, was that my reality is always within His control. It is what it is only if and when He says it is. And while the rest of the world might be out to get me, He has promised to never give me more than I can handle, to work all things in my reality for my good, and to use every single circumstance in the process of making me more like Him.
The next time you hear me say, It is what it is.... rest assured that what I really mean is, It is what it is by the Grace of God and only until He decides it isn't.
Day 52 of 365
Leviticus 11
Leviticus 12
Mark 5:21-43
Psalm 38:1-22
Proverbs 10:8-9
With the right inflection and with superior posture, a few could use it with a leader-ly air - as if to say: It is what it is but we can handle it. But that's just mincing nuances. No one uses the phrase It is what it is unless they are convinced that whatever it is can't be changed. It is a phrase that seems to state the obvious but actually implies helplessness. After all, if something could be done then they would use some of those other quaint colloquialisms like: This won't stand or Over my dead body or (borrowed from my grandpa) That's no hill for a stepper.
When you resort to "it is what it is" you are saying "It is as bad as you think, and they are out to get us ." I saw that on a bumper sticker once, but I think it fits. When we are helpless to change our circumstances it can be a frustrating and even scary place to be - no matter who you are. In such times you have no choice but to yield to reality. Well, that is, unless you are Jesus. Today, I saw clearly where He is concerned even reality yields to Him!
In Mark 5, a leader of the local synagogue where Jesus was traveling through came to him and fell at Jesus feet, terrified by his reality.
22 . . . Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.
26 She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse.
She had tried, but her reality would not yield. Her situation was helpless, but when she heard about Jesus it was not hopeless.
27 She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. 28 For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.
Imagine, the doctors had all told her "it is what it is." When she fell at the feet of Jesus, He told her, "You have been healed." Reality yielded to Jesus.
What about the little dying girl? By the time Jesus got to Jairus' home the neighbors were wailing and reported the girl was dead. "There's no use troubling the teacher now," they told Jairus. In other words, "It is what it is, and it's too late." But reality had not met Jesus.
36 Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” ... 39 He went inside and spoke to the people. . . "The child isn't dead; she is only asleep." ... 41 Holding her hand, He said to her "Get up, little girl!" And the girl who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around!
In this life, there are many times when we are in a position that we must yield to reality. Reality, however, will always yield to the desires of Jesus Christ. Jesus is sovereign over reality. In reading about these two individual people who were helpless I was encouraged two ways. First, no matter what my reality looks like, I, too can fall at the feet of Jesus and ask for His intervention. If He so desires, reality has no chance against His will. An equally powerful lesson, though, was that my reality is always within His control. It is what it is only if and when He says it is. And while the rest of the world might be out to get me, He has promised to never give me more than I can handle, to work all things in my reality for my good, and to use every single circumstance in the process of making me more like Him.
The next time you hear me say, It is what it is.... rest assured that what I really mean is, It is what it is by the Grace of God and only until He decides it isn't.
Day 52 of 365
Leviticus 11
Leviticus 12
Mark 5:21-43
Psalm 38:1-22
Proverbs 10:8-9
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