No Counterfeits Allowed
A counterfeit only fools the people that are looking at it
but the owner knows that it’s not the real thing. The other day I was admiring
a nice handbag that someone was carrying, she told me that she would put me in
touch with the person she purchased it from. She said it wasn’t the real thing
but it was close as you could get. I was immediately turned off because I
didn’t want to buy something to fool someone else when I knew it wasn’t
authentic. Even if I could save myself time and money, I would rather wait
until I could afford the real thing. A penny spent on the fake is too high a
price to pay. Why invest in a knock-off when you can have the real thing with a
little hard work and discipline?
Immediately the Lord spoke to me about how this same
principle applies to everything. Sometimes we things we want but instead of
doing the work and having the faith to get His best for us, we settle for
whatever we can get with the least amount of effort. I couldn’t exclude myself
because I wondered how could I be so passionate about a handbag but have
settled to let my dream of having a child disappear? I had given birth to a
successful ministry, considered myself a pretty decent wife and stepmother but
I settled for those things as a replacement for my promise. See, those things
weren’t bad but they weren’t MY promise.
We let our feelings getting in the way of our waiting
because it’s too painful to wait for something that you think may never come.
So instead, we become satisfied with that which is not authentic. It’s not that
the other things God had given me were not blessings, because they are, but
they are a counterfeit of a child. Those things and lessons that I have learned
are preparation for what else God is going to do in my life. But we have to
face the reality that God is doing to do some things in His own timing and it’s
not up to us to look to the counterfeit to bring us comfort. You don’t get to
throw your dream away because God hasn’t given it to you yet.
Times have changed and our expectations have changed right
along with them. Settling for whatever you can get has become the name of the
game. We don’t have the patience to wait for the best so we accept whatever
“right now” brings. That may mean taking something that belongs to someone else
or forever living with Mr. or Mrs. Right Now. What we fail to realize is that
settling for the counterfeit comes with its own set of consequences. A
counterfeit is a poor representation of the real thing. It only looks the real
thing but it really isn’t. It won’t serve the same purpose in your life that
the real thing does.
When you try to rely on the counterfeit, it will reveal its
true nature. It was never built to do what you needed it do, it only looked
like it could withstand the pressure. What I reap from one area doesn’t replace
what I’m supposed to reap somewhere else. You can’t keep those frenemies around
and expect for them to give you the support and encouragement of genuine friendship.
That dead-end job is what you settled for to pay your bills, it’s not the
promise God gave you. And that relationship that you’re in just so you won’t be
lonely, you’re going to have to let that go. You see the counterfeit looks like
the real thing until you expose to the light, the truth of God’s word! Those weak
spots, those cracks in what you’ve used to pacify yourself are not going to
fill the hole that your promise has left.
Sometimes you just have to wait until God positions you to
handle the real thing. Don’t make excuses for why it hasn’t come and don’t
convince yourself that you no longer want it, but most of all don’t try to pass
the counterfeit off as the real thing.
As much as I love Jeremiah 29:11, I also take hope in
Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
What’s in our hearts dictates our lives but we also have to
follow the directions that God gives us. It’s His voice that keeps us from
being satisfied with the counterfeit and being attracted to the authentic!
Mrs. Truscott
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