Face the Facts With Faith

[Face the Facts With Faith]( Current Teaching Series [Created to Dream]( [Listen to Today's Broadcast]( [Face the Facts With Faith]( By Rick Warren — 04/23/2023 [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email](mailto:?subject=I'd%20like%20to%20share%20a%20Daily%20Devotional%20from%20Pastor%20Rick%20with%20you&body= “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV) When you’re chasing a dream God has given you, you’ll inevitably hit a place where it seems things are out of your control and there’s no way out. Short of a miracle from God, it’s a hopeless situation. You’re in the dead-end phase of God growing your faith. When you hit a dead end, you need to face the facts with faith. The worst thing you can do at a dead end is pretend there isn’t a problem. Having faith doesn’t mean you deny reality. Faith isn’t saying, “I’m not in pain” when, in fact, you are. It’s not saying, “I don’t hurt” when you really do. It’s not saying, “I’m happy” when you’re grieving. That’s not faith. That’s phoniness! Faith is facing the facts without being disheartened by them, because you know God is greater than the problem. There is a brand of Christianity that basically says to deny all of your problems. Just have a positive confession. Name it and claim it. But that kind of thinking doesn’t come from Jesus. It’s more reflective of Pollyanna, a fictional character whose unrealistic view of life only sees the positive while completely ignoring anything negative. Pollyanna is not exactly a good theologian. When you have faith, you don’t have to deny reality. Faith is facing reality without being discouraged by it. When you have faith, you know that God can change a situation. You can’t build a family on a Pollyanna fantasy—but you can build your family on faith. You can’t build a business on fantasy—but you can build a business on faith. You can’t build a life on fantasy—but you can build your life on faith. How do you do that? You look beyond your circumstances: “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen [the problem] is temporary, but what is unseen [God’s power] is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV). If you look at the world, you’re going to be distressed; there are problems everywhere! If you look within, you’re going to be depressed, because there are a lot of things that need changing in your life. But if you look at Jesus Christ, you’ll be at rest. What you focus on shapes what your reality looks like. When you start looking at your problem, you’re sunk. But if you look at Jesus—if you look toward your Deliverer rather than the difficulty—then you’ll make it. [PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>]( Talk It Over - In what ways have you been building your life on fantasy because you’ve been afraid to face reality? - Once you’ve faced the facts of your reality, what do you think God wants you to do? - What does it mean practically to focus on your Deliverer rather than the difficulty? The post [Face the Facts With Faith]( appeared first on [Pastor Rick's Daily Hope](. [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email](mailto:?subject=I'd%20like%20to%20share%20a%20Daily%20Devotional%20from%20Pastor%20Rick%20with%20you&body= [Get Created to Dream when you give a gift to support Daily Hope!]( God has a dream for your life—and it’s far greater than anything you could ever dream up on your own. Discover God’s dream for your life and how to overcome the many barriers you’ll encounter as you pursue it with Pastor Rick’s brand-new book, Created to Dream: The 6 Phases God Uses to Grow Your Faith. This life-changing book reveals the process God uses to fulfill the custom-made dream he has for you and the faith-building phases he’ll lead you through as he does—just as he did for so many people in the Bible. [LEARN MORE]( [Complete Audio Series (Purchase)]( Includes 6 full-length messages from Pastor Rick's series Created to Dream. [LEARN MORE]( [Series Summary]( Message 1: How God Builds Your Faith Message 2: God's Dream for Your Life Message 3: How to Make Wise Decisions Message 4: Delayed by Design Message 5: How to Deal With Difficulty Message 6: From Dead End to Deliverance [PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST]( Pastor Rick Warren [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Linkedin]( Enjoy today's devotional? 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