What If?
These to words open up millions of opportunities for the story to take a different route. They can be uttered with expectancy or they can be uttered in desperation. I’m always looking for options when something unexpected happens. Just yesterday, I was in another state, in another town when I hoped in my vehicle to drive across town and it wouldn’t start. The battery was dead. There were no warnings or signals that this was about to happen. It just died. I started grabbing tools from my tool pouch and taking the battery out of the car. It appears to be the original battery. I was actually thankful that the battery broke when I was with my son and his family. I could borrow a car and go to the Auto Parts store to pick up a new battery to replace the old one. An hour later, we were going again. I was also thankful for the tools in my pouch. What if I didn’t have tools? What if I had broken down at Chic-fil-a earlier on the trip? What if this had happened when my wife was driving to town shopping?
There are so many “What If’s” in my life that it can be paralyzing if I allow it. I must keep walking through life on purpose and knowing that the Presence of God is with me. I must keep the proper perspective at all times and in every situation. How can the Lord use each situation to teach me? He is the best at teaching through every circumstance that I face. Check this out….
1 What if the Lord had not been on our side?
Let all Israel repeat:
2 What if the Lord had not been on our side
when people attacked us?
7 We escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap.
The trap is broken, and we are free!
8 Our help is from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 124:7-8 NLT)
What if I had never accepted the Lord as my Savior and Lord many years ago? I’m in Georgia now because I chose to follow the Lord many years ago in 3rdGrade. My faith became my own my freshman year in college. I would not know even a third of the people that I know. My life journey would look so much different had I not accepted the Lord and followed His call upon my life. I was a youth pastor for 20 years because I accepted the Lord’s leading. I have been a REALTOR for the past 15 years because I followed the Lord’s leading. If I ask “What If” about everything, it could drive me crazy. What if I didn’t adopt my son Luke from Nicaragua? What if I didn’t make a decision to get out of bed at least 30 minutes early each day to hear from the Lord in His Word? The answers to all my “what if” questions would have way different answers than they do today. My life today is a result of multiple decisions made many years ago – in some cases nearly 50 years ago in third grade.
I’m learning that I can trust the Lord even if some of my decisions in the past were stupid and indefensible. He takes my broken mess and jacked up decisions and can make a beautiful life out of it. His forgiveness, grace and mercy are the base that puts my brokenness back together into a beautiful work of art. He is the ONLY One Who can do something like that. While I’m a result of mulitiple choices that I’ve made over the years, the big choice to follow Him directly influences all other choices. What if I had never chosen to trust Him? That “what if” really hurts my heart to even ask. I do choose to follow Him again today and every day.
Pressing On!
Dwayne