Can you tell which is a real balloon animal and which is fake? I’m sure you can!
We could say that one on the right is real all we want, but it wouldn’t make it so. That just seems silly, but it’s serious when we say spiritual things without making sure they’re true.
Mark 14:27-28 says, “And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. 28 But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.”
Verse 31 shows Peter and the other disciples’ boldness: “But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.”
Then Jesus was betrayed by Judas and arrested. By verse 50, the disciples realized they weren’t as ready for battle as they thought: “And they all forsook him, and fled.”
Saying they were ready to follow Jesus anywhere didn’t make it true.
When the battle isn’t what you expect, when the stakes get higher than we’re comfortable with, we need to make sure our faith is real, not just spoken.
We need to ask Jesus to prepare us for the battles we’ll face, not just the battles we think we’re ready for.