What If?

There was a comic book I used to love as a kid called What If? It basically took a storyline from another comic and said, "What if they made this decision instead?" It was a fun read but invariably, the alternative decisions that were made never ended well.

You came away realizing that the characters life was better off the way things had actually developed.

Too bad we don't often realize that in real life!

I know so many people who play the what if game. I've played it myself.

What if I took this job instead of that one?
What if I married someone else?
What if I moved here instead of there?

I think you see this a lot in failed marriages. What if my spouse did or said or was "X"?

We also tend to do this a lot when it comes to tough conversations or situations...

What if I had said this or told that person this...yeah that would have showed them!

Sadly, as a Christian, I see too often we play the "What If" game when it comes to our future as well.

What if I (or my spouse) get sick?
What if I lose my job?

The list goes on!

In the end, the "what if" life becomes the paralyzed life. We are so focused on how things should have been or could have been better, that we fail to give thanks in all circumstances. We fail to move beyond the past to the future God has for us!

Even projecting out what could happen, we don't always picture God in those circumstances. Our worst or best case future scenarios don't usually include God moving in the situation.

We spend more time fantasizing the what if than living the life God has for us now!

Jesus said in Luke 12:25, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

Instead of worrying or stressing about the what if or the what was, let's embrace what God has for us right now! Let's thank Him for the What is!

1 Thessalonians 5:18, "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."