Smoke and mirrors. Illusion, lies, fantasies and self-deception. I can not be the only one who wonders on a daily basis if what I see is REAL, if what I read is REAL, if what I hear is REAL. We live in fabricated times, and daily we are bombarded with counterfeit people. Carbon copies of the same tired design, replicas of the same boring lie. And the lie is that we have to lie to be happy.

Where are the REAL ones at?

Say what you mean and mean what you say. Be honest with the little things. Be true. Be trustworthy. BE REAL. These words keep circling in my mind, making their rounds, pulling at my thoughts. In fact, these words seemed to wake me up in the middle of the night, a little God tug on my heart to get up and get the word out. And the word is truth. I crave REAL like there’s no tomorrow.

So up I got and here I sit. In a quiet house in the middle of the night, listening to the furnace whispering softly in the background as it warms me, basking in the quiet glow of my laptop screen while I type. A page just filling up with some of what I was made to do. At this hour, in this quiet truth, I am able to focus on what is REAL. I am able to listen. So thank you for joining me on my quest for authenticity.

So what is REAL? REAL is getting harder to find. We live in a lying world. In a world saturated by fake images, deceitful leaders, untrustworthy news. In a world that wants to groom us to be as false as everything around us, to portray an image of perfection for everyone else to strive to compete with. A world that tells us we have to act a certain way, look a certain way, and be a certain way or we won’t be happy. A world falling apart in its own unhappiness, but taking a filtered smiling selfie as it goes down in flames.

I see so many things that I never used to see. And daily I ask God to show me more. I see women all striving to look exactly like each other, altering their looks with fillers and makeup until they almost look like a carbon copy of one another, but all desperately wanting to stand out, and I see men who pretend to be men but who have mostly forgotten what it means to be men, and that strength has nothing to do with the gym selfie they just posted. I see people who say one thing and do another as if that is the new norm. No follow through. No trustworthiness. Is it a wonder we are riddled with anxiety when we don’t know what to believe? I see a world that lies to us and tells us we have steps we need to follow in a particular order to be successful and happy, a society of conformity that says we must get good grades, think like everyone else, go to college, get a good job, get married, have babies, and drown ourselves with debt so we can look like we have just as much if not more than our neighbors do. And we are absolutely miserable in our lies as we post smiles while we do it. We live in a world that stomps on different, and beats down unique. A world that tries to groom the extraordinary out of us, and tries to make us partake in the horrible lie that is sameness. Gross.

We are not all the same. We are not meant to be. We are not all equal. Gasp… Yes, I said it. That might just rustle some feathers, but it’s true. We weren’t created to be equally the same in every single way. We are supposed to look different, act different and be different. After all, everyone of us is a masterpiece. The cool thing about a masterpiece is that not only is it spectacular, it is original. Nobody wants a reprint if they can have the real deal. So why are we settling for cheap copies of everything? Some of us came to serve, and some of us came to be served. In a world striving to compete with the ability to be the best at all the same boring things, we are overlooking the ability to be distinct with our gifts, to serve with our gifts, to create life and love with our gifts. We should be complimenting and coexisting in our own originality, a world of beautiful differences serving one another. We should be ravishing in and relishing in all of our uniqueness.

“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭139‬:‭14‬ ‭

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:”
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭4‬:‭10‬ ‭

So why are we letting the world rub away at all that makes us special? Our individualism? Why do we believe the lie of sameness? Why are we lying to ourselves and everyone around us? With our words? With our actions?

Is it because we don’t like what we see? Or because we have bought into the ultimate lie that the grass is greener over on our social neighbors profile?

The truth I’m trying to write is basic. If you are unhappy maybe you need to be doing things a little differently than you are now. Maybe the lie of sameness is wearing you down. Maybe you need to make a difference in your life by being as different as God made you to be. To not be afraid of what all the look alikes and act alikes think or say. You were born to be set apart from the world. To be light for others in the darkness. You can’t do that by being one with the darkness, but by being different. Be unexpected, be extraordinary, be weirdly, uniquely, amazingly you. Just be REAL.

Do not be afraid to talk the talk and walk the walk, to say what you mean and to be vulnerable in your weaknesses, no matter how weird you seem. I read this really cool book about a man who changed the world by being completely different than everyone else, and the followers he picked were all outcasts. This book has lasted for thousands of years, and it is the truest truth we have. This book changed my entire life. This book tells you to be different than the world. It’s about a man who pursued me and saved me, and I can never get enough of Him. Jesus Christ is different and REAL. And He died so we can be too.

So be REAL. After all, God looks at the heart, and we should too. God makes the weak strong, the last first, and gives wisdom to those who ask of him. Be wise enough to be set apart, to change your life and maybe the world, all by being REAL.

God bless and much REAL love,

~ Ray R.

If you like what I do feel free to share. You can also follow my Facebook pages at Humblegirl, or Raygirl. Thanks for supporting my journey. One day I hope to get to do this more and more.

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭27‬-‭29‬ ‭