Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. Isaiah 12:2a (NIV)
Have you ever played the game What If? Actually, it’s not a game, and it’s not fun. It goes like this: You give free rein to your thoughts to create negative scenarios (notice they’re NEVER positive). Your mind is free to speculate. What if he has a wreck coming home? What if she doesn’t accept my explanation? What if I lose my job? What if we run out of money? What if they don’t like me? And on and on it goes until we are miserable.
What If is like teasing a frightened dog and being shocked when it bites. What If bites. It always leads to worry, fretting, anxiety, distress, even depression when given enough latitude.
Be honest with yourself. How many of your What Ifs were as bad as you imagined they would be? Probably very few. We work ourselves into a tizzy because the moment the What If creeps into our cognition, we entertain it rather than destroying it. We destroy it by remembering (or even saying aloud, if necessary), “God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid.” And we give the What If to God.
We take the next steps in full confidence that God goes ahead of us and gives every grace we need for the circumstance. Of course, it takes practice, so let’s get going.
Father, we spend so much time in speculation while we could spend the same time trusting you and thanking you that you’ve already created a way to save us. Forgive us and help us to move from What If to trust. In our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
agodforeveryday 