“When we read scripture, we have to think about whether the people who wrote it might actually have meant something by it. They did! They are talking about the reality of the kingdom of the heavens—the stone that was cut out without hands and is going to wipe out all the nations of the earth (Dan. 2:45) is already here! It is the stone that is the rock of offense and stumbling. It’s Jesus Christ himself, the Chief Cornerstone, and he is here. And if we’re not in touch with that, then we’re just going to be whistling in the dark like everyone else, scrambling around to make a good appearance of things, but not having a reality that gives us peace and strength. So we need to deal with that if we haven’t reached that place in our lives. We need help in making that our context. Now, once it’s made, then we’re going to be so different that people are going to look and say, “What’s going on there? How can you live like that?”

-Dallas Willard

I don’t know about you, but I need a “reality that gives us peace and strength.” Without understanding and appropriating that reality, I find myself off balance and confused by the different voices around me offering advice on the path forward.

But then I am reminded that Jesus promised that he will overcome the world. Jesus promised that He will be with me always, even when life is painful and confusing. As Larry Norman said long ago, “He’s the rock that doesn’t roll.”