3 Things to Help You Reset Your Reality

If you’ve accepted Christ, you have a story of how He reset your life. We could all share something about how God took our brokenness and reset it.

Our past serves as a powerful reminder that we can reset reality. Maybe not always, but sometimes we can.

Perhaps you have been through terrible situations in your life. That’s a reality. But you can change the reality of how you respond to the life you have, or the reality of whatever difficulty you’re facing today. You can reset those things in your life that you do have control over, with God’s help.

Let’s look at three things that can help you as you think about how to reset reality in your life.

1. Get honest with yourself.
   Refuse to live in a state of denial. Denial is a powerful and destructive force in your life. You can’t reset reality if you don’t acknowledge reality. First Timothy 4:1-2 says, “The spirit makes it clear that as time goes on, some are going to give up on the faith and chase after demonic illusion put forth by professional liars. These liars have lied so well and for so long that they’ve lost their capacity for the truth” (MSG).“Denial gives our mind the opportunity to unconsciously absorb shocking distresses and information at a pace that won’t send you into a psychological tailspin” (Mayo Clinic).

   God has wired us in such a way, so that when we face a crisis, we immediately go into the denial.

   A problem with denial.

   • • When denial continues, it’ll damage your life.
     • Continuing with a destructive behavior in your marriage, assuming that it’s going to go away, is foolish because it won’t.
     • Spending more money than you make over an extended period of time, and assuming your finances are going to be okay … they won’t.

   Living an unhealthy lifestyle, over an extended period of time and assuming it’s going to be okay – and it won’t.

   We often live in a state of denial, when we really need to be in hit that reset button.

2. Be honest with others.
   Stop lying. Dishonesty in a relationship produces trouble. It’s disturbing and hinders building confidence in a relationship when we feel like people are not truthful and honest.Ephesians 4:23 says, “No more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself” (MSG).

   When Donna and I were first married, our neighbor had a barking dog that would come right up to our fence and bark into our bedroom window. His house was way at the other end of his lot, so he didn’t hear the dog.

   I was very immature. I would call him up and say, “Stop your barking dog!” And the BOOM! I’d hang up on him.

   Then God got ahold of my heart. I trudged over to his house on a snowy, December night in Michigan and knocked on his door. When he answered, I said, “I’m sorry. That’s me calling. Will you forgive me.” I was honest. I didn’t even mention his barking dog. And the dog never barked again at my fence.

   A dishonest relationship breaks your ability to be vulnerable with another person. A reality reset requires you to be honest with yourself and with other people.

3. Focus on better, not bigger.
   In a practical sense, you might think you need to reset to do something bigger, but the American dream doesn’t exist in God’s economy.We can get lost in those thoughts that the American way of viewing life is God’s way of viewing life, and it really isn’t. For example, in 1920, a hundred years ago, the average house in America was 750 – 1,000 square feet. Today, the average house is 2,400 square feet and growing. And people are saying, “I still need more storage space.” The average child has 238 toys, but only plays with 12 of them.

   For most of us, we have more than we ever need. 1 Timothy 6:6-8 says, “A devout life does bring wealth, but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that’s enough” (MSG).

   If you could reset one thing in your life today, what would it be?

   Are you stuck today? Do you need to you reset an attitude? Maybe your emotions are negative and holding you back. And today you need to push that reset button to change your attitude to have the mind of Christ.

   You can rest your reality with God’s help.

For more on this topic read “Reality Reset – Find Inspiration to Reset your Reality”