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In the past months we’ve all gone through a lot of “what ifs,” haven’t we? Facing a global pandemic can cause you to imagine all kinds of “what ifs.” And this has caused fear to grip our country and the world.
Now we are living through the aftermath of what fear can do. It brings out the worst in people, doesn’t it? It causes those in authority to place lots of restrictions on us because they fear this disease and what it could do. I wonder if you have been caught up in the “what ifs” of fear?
I’ve been encouraging you to replace your “what ifs” with “even ifs”, and recognize that even if the worst happens, it doesn’t change our God and his promises to us. The book of Habakkuk in the Old Testament is full of the “what ifs” of the people of Israel. Their way of life was being threatened, but listen to what Habakkuk said to them:
I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior (Habakkuk 3:16-18).
Notice that he recognized and confessed his fear and the effect it had on him. It affected him physically and spiritually, as fear always does. And he lays out all the bad things that could happen to them; they could be wiped out. But Habakkuk declares that even if that happens, he will rejoice in the Lord and be joyful in God. He sets his will to do what he knows he should do—trust God and be joyful.
Can you do the same? Will you say, “YET I will rejoice in the Lord,” even though your prayers have not been answered or your dreams haven’t come true? Rejoice because the joy of the Lord is your strength, and remember that even if your “what if” becomes a reality, God will not change and he will see you through. Instead of what if, set your heart to know that even if. . . you are in the hands of Almighty God and he will never leave you or forsake you.