What Ifs

Has your mind ever been besieged by the ‘what-ifs’? What if my marriage doesn’t work out? What if I never get married or have children? What if the stock market plunges? What if my job begins laying off workers? What if I don’t pass this test? What if my children get addicted to drugs or alcohol? What if someone hacks into my bank account and steals all my money?

It’s not the absence of ‘what-ifs’ that will give us peace but rather our choice to not let the ‘what-ifs’ rule our lives. We know there is always some kind of risk in this life. We live in a sinful world that is only going to get worse every day until Jesus returns.

We can find our peace when we settle in our spirits that God is in control. Knowing this and letting it soak into our hearts gives us hope to keep moving forward even when our plans go awry. God’s plan for our lives will always trump our plans. He will engineer everything to work towards our good even when we are blinded by the troubles before us.

There is hope for those who have put their trust in Jesus. He doesn’t want us anxious and excited about every possible turn of life. We can overcome our anxious thoughts by praying to God and relaxing in His peace (Philippians 4:6-8). We can also discipline our minds to focus on being thankful about everything that has gone right instead of focusing on all the things that could possibly go wrong.

Our peace is tied into our faith in an all-powerful, all-knowing, and always-present God. We aren’t left to the mercy of ‘what-ifs’. Rather, we are carefully protected and guided by the Lord of the universe.