What if...?

Ever had one of those “What if I’d...” moments? We can fantasize on those “what if’s” if we want to, but the time wasted on those fantasies could have been used more wisely so we won’t need to “what if” about that wasted fantasy time later. I would imagine all of us have had the “what if’s.” Fear is a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc. One of the things that cause many in the world today to fear is the “What if…” What if our worst fear were to come true? What if I lose everything? What if my friends leave me? What if my parents divorce? What if I lose the game? What if…. What if…. What if…!! I read a saying the other day: F.E.A.R. has two meanings: “Forget Everything And Run”, or “Face Everything And Rise”. The choice is ours. We face many storms throughout our lives. These storms can cause a multitude of emotions in our lives. Loss of control, fear, beat down, desperation, and hopelessness are a few of those emotions. When we are faced with these different and sometimes difficult storms in our lives, fear becomes an option. We can be afraid and we can react to our fear by forgetting everything and running. But in order to combat fear we need to realize that God will be there with us through all our fears. We must have courage to trust in the Lord.

[Romans 15:4] “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Paul, in Acts 27, is a prisoner being transported to Rome by ship. He warns the centurion about not sailing. But Paul’s advice not to sail is ignored (v.10-11). Soon after putting out to sea, the ship encounters a major storm. The crew of the ship lost control, became fearful, beaten down by the storm, desperate, and finally hopeless (v. 15-20). But Paul has the courage and faith to stand before the crew and tell the crew what an angel from God has told him (v. 24-25) “and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God as graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.” God will use storms in our lives to strengthen us. We must continue to put our faith in Him. We must focus our attention on our faith and not our fears. Joshua had been chosen and appointed by God, just before Moses’ death, to be Israel’s leader. In God’s pep-talk to Joshua (Joshua 1:7-9) God finished by saying, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you where ever you go.” The world is not being very kind to any of us of late. “The seed that fell among the thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature” (Luke 8:1-15). Challenges lay ahead, temptations are on both sides of the road, and Satan is waiting for us to step off the path we are walking with Jesus. “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5-6). What’s the old saying, “hindsight is 20/20?” Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of being able to go back and change the past. We can, however, let the past change the way we do things in the future. And that’s Scriptural! Surely, one “what if” we don’t ever want to ponder while in torment (Luke 16:19-31) is, “What if I’d just obeyed the gospel?” The Good News is Jesus Christ. The Good News is - we can win this battle over sin, fear and worry!