Jane DeLongWhat If
Have you ever thought, "What if I hadn't done (you fill in the blank), then maybe (...)"? I find myself often wondering "what if", sometimes with a good connotation and sometimes with a not so good meaning.
During one recent bout with this "what if" syndrome, I turned to Ecclesiastes 3. This chapter is all about time; a time for this, a time for that. As I read through this chapter I couldn't help but notice all the opposites listed in verses 2-8. I love making lists of contrasts found in Scripture because it gives me a deeper understanding of God's ways. I made the following list about time:
A time for every matter or purpose:
born/die
plant/pluck up
kill/heal
break down/build up
weep/laugh
mourn/dance
cast away/gather together
embrace/refrain
get/lose
keep/cast away
rend/mend
keep silent/speak
love/hate
war/peace
A couple other lists I make when studying a passage of Scripture is to answer the questions: What does God do? and What do I do?
Here are my answers from Ecclesiastes 3:
What God does:
makes everything beautiful in its TIME
plants ETERNITY in hearts
implants a sense of divine PURPOSE within us only HE can satisfy www.bible.com/1588/ecc.3.11.amp
what He does endures FOREVER
causes same things to happen AGAIN and AGAIN
judges righteous and wicked
sets TIME for every matter; PURPOSE for every work
separates and sifts
What I do:
NOTHING BETTER than to be glad, get good, do good
ENJOY life-eat, drink
ENJOY God's GIFT of work
FEAR, REVERE, WORSHIP God
know that God IS
enjoy MY work, not envy someone else's
remember God has an APPOINTED TIME for every matter and a PURPOSE for every work
As I sat with these lists for a while God began to stir within me some of those "what ifs" I had been concerning myself with. As He began speaking to my heart, His Spirit began to turn my negative "what ifs" into positive affirmations. I want to share theses with you in hopes they will help another what if-er come to grips with God's great love for her and His great power to perfect all that concerns us.
What if we let fear die, and trust be born.
What if we allow God to plant His plans deep within us and give Him permission to pluck up our plans.
What if we look at the places Satan has tried to kill and allow God's Spirit to touch and heal them.
What if we ask God to break down strongholds the enemy has built and give Him permission to build up walls of trust in Him, strongholds of dependence on Him, highways of His love.
What if we allow God to turn places we weep and mourn into areas we see His hand and are moved into a position of praise, of laughter, of dancing.
What if we cast away the stones of doubt, uncertainty, fear, and frustration; and gather up the boulders of faith in God's plan, confidence in His love, assurance that He goes before us, and calm delight that He is indeed doing a good work in us which He will bring to completion.
What if we embrace the new beginning God brings our way and refrain from second guessing Him.
What if we get all that is already ours in Christ and lose our self-made identity.
What if we keep searching God's Word for His promises and cast away the fear binding us in doubt.
What if we allow God to rend old mind-sets; patterns of thinking which keep us bound to fear, and allow Him to mend those patterns into right thinking, leading to trust in Him.
What if we no longer keep silent about God but boldly speak up and out for Him.
What if we realize we are in a war and fight accordingly, allowing God's peace that passes human comprehension to reassure our hearts, reminding us the victory is ours in Christ.
What if we allow God's peace to calm us in every battle, every storm, every circumstance so that we no longer ponder "what if" but boldly proclaim with Job: "Even if...I will hope in God." www.bible.com/1588/job.13.15.amp
Will you ponder "what if" today or proclaim "even if"?
Until next time,
God bless and keep you,
Jane
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