What If

Sometimes we approach the New Year with feelings of joy and excitement, looking forward to a fresh start and new beginnings, hopeful about what’s ahead. It feels like a chance to begin again and try something different, better, or to see more victories.

Other times the dark clouds of dread, fear, and worry hover over us with gloom and doom. Or our hearts are filled with deep sorrow and loss. Our hearts and minds begin to fill with thoughts, questions, and uncertainties, wondering how can I make it through?

Questions of Doubt

·        Will I make it through? How do I move forward into it?

·        What do I do when the shadows have darkened my view?

·        And the heartache has left me broken and lost?

Seeking Assurance

We wonder where we will find the peace and assurance, the guarantee, the hope and comfort we need. Where/when will my soul find its rest?

We ask “what if?”

1.      What if this happens… or that doesn’t change?

2.      What if I can’t do this, or pay that?

3.      Will I have the strength or courage to face it or deal with it?

4.      Where will I find the means, the wisdom, or the way?

5.      The strength to stand, or the will to go on?

6.      Can I do another day, or year?

7.      What if I can’t make it? What if I lose my way?

8.      What if it’s too hard, or the suffering too much?

9.      What if…?

Once it starts, it doesn’t seem to end.

What If God Intervenes?

·        What if God shows His mercy?

·        What if God is gentle and patient?

·        What if He comes to my aid?

·        What if He rescues me?

What if we surrender it to God and let Him carry that weight? Shoulder our cares, lift our burdens?

·        What if He shows up?

·        What if He stays with me? Then what?

What if we leave the future in His hands, instead of holding it in ours with a death grip?

·        What if this is the year the Lord comes back?

·        What if God heals that hurt or lifts that burden?

·        What if He chooses to help us along the way?

Feeding Faith Over Anxiety

·        What if we feed our faith instead of our anxieties?

·        What if we trust He will answer us when we call?

·        What if we believe in His goodness and mercies instead?

·        What if we cling to His promises instead?

What if we boot out all the harmful, destructive thoughts and practiced Philippians 4:8 instead?

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

A Perspective of Love and Trust

·        What if we focus on His heart of love?

·        What if we believe He loves and cares enough to help us through?

·        What if we rely on His strength instead of our own?

·        What if we see things through His eyes?

·        What if we view everything in light of eternity?

What if we let go and say, “I cannot control any of it anyway?” What if we let God do what He does best? What if we simply say, “God it is Yours; This is Yours.”

Letting Go and Moving Forward

What if we let go of the past, and press on for “the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus”?

“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the heavenly prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14 AMP).

What if we just lived each day, and made every moment count?

·        What if we just keep our eyes on Him, not looking to the left or the right?

·        What if we were just thankful?

What if we played a new game of “what if”?

One where we do not calculate without God. Where challenges are opportunities to exercise our faith, our faith in Him.

Where we remember His faithfulness, and recall His tender acts of kindness and mercies to us.

And we say, “what if we don’t have to carry it all?” “What if God does what I cannot?”

·        “What if He parts the Red Sea, or moves that mountain? Or what if He helps me to climb it?”

Trusting in God's Power

·        “What if He does what only He can?”

What if we honored Him by having faith in Him? Believed in Him more than our concerns? What if we simply took Him at His word?

What if we believed that He is enough?

The Power of Prayer

Worrying doesn’t change anything…

“And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span?” (Luke 12:25).

But prayer does—

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

“Don’t measure the size of the mountain; Talk to the One who can move it. Instead of carrying the world on your shoulders, talk to the One who holds the universe on His.” -Max Lucado

May we always remember He will be enough.