We have been throwing around all these heavy words in small group, the past few weeks. Exploring the concepts behind them till we can talk about them easily and actually use them in sentences,  pulling them out in casual conversation and feeling quite good about it: theology, sovereignty, concurrence, the glory of God, free will, and God’s overall plan. But apart from the fact that as Christ-followers we should be able to understand and use those meaningful words, and in case we would become glib and careless in using them, we may as well boil it all down and admit that what we are really talking about is nothing new, nothing more than “Real God. Real Life. Real People.”

God is alive and present in this broken shabby world. He remains good through all of our everyday ups and downs. He loves us and will never leave us, no matter what troubles or crises we face today or tomorrow or next week. He stands beside us and weeps with us through all our heartaches because He knows what it is like to live here. We are weak and damaged people, handicapped by the sin we were born into, but God is utterly worthy of our trust and our worship, and He calls us His own children. God is in control of every thing that exists, and is weaving it together into a much bigger picture than we can see, for our good and His glory. We can agree with the Song-writer: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26) These things are real and true.

All the big fancy words are just there to label the truths we know, in such a way that scholars can study them and explain them. The important thing is to learn about God and how to walk with Him, be able to recognize Him at work in our lives. The important thing is to saturate our lives with God’s Word, as women, so that we are prepared for the next storm, and can strengthen the ones we love. It’s all just Real Life as Christ-followers.

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“Women will go the way of their church culture, media culture, family culture, peer culture– they will follow whoever is leading, unless they have developed their own convictions.  We will listen to other voices if we have not learned to discern the voice of God.”  (Sally Clarkson)

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“I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.” (Psalm 73:23-25)