Do you live in a fairy tale?

Earlier last week I was having a conversation with friend and we ended up on the subject of Fantasy. It's perfectly normal for a person to have fantasies ,I would say, but the danger lies when you allow yourself to become consumed in your fantasies.

I didn't think that fantasy was a form of pride at first, but as my friend and I began to converse I saw how she was correct. Fantasy, while seemingly harmless on the surface becomes quite dangerous when you frequently begin to retreat there because most times when one begins to fantasize it is primarily focused on "self", and if you are focused on yourself that means you are not focused on God. When we're constantly focused [or fantasizing] on what we want most times we won't pay attention to what it is that God wants.

I like how Luke Holter describes fantasy. He says "Fantasy can be a good or a pathological defense. Fantasizing involves creating an inner world when the real world becomes too painful, difficult, or stressful." I would say that is fairly accurate. Now of course not all fantasy is bad, in fact it actually is healthy [I think] to have some fantasy, but if you find yourself retreating to your fantasy world when things get too tough in the real world out of fear [or whatever your reason may be] then there is a problem. How can you live out your current [present] life if you're so caught up in how you wish things were?

The bible calls for us to be "sober minded", but how can one possibly be sober minded when we allow ourselves to be consumed in a fantasy world where everything is perfect and there are never any real problems. We have to be willing to contend in the battlefield of our minds because it's there that the war for our destiny is being fought.

Most times people retreat to fantasy because of previous hurts & pains that they don't want to deal with. Truth is, if you ever want to move forward you have to deal with your past [no matter the pain] and trust that God's can heal you. After all He is the worlds greatest physician! ;-)