if [if] (noun) an uncertainty; a proposition – courtesy Dictionary.com
WHAT IF?  Two words of profound importance – courtesy Kara McAbee
Letters from JulietA few years ago, a good friend of mine went to a “chick flick” called Letters to Juliet.  Now there’s nothing odd about that; except this friend is a 40-something single Dad.  He called me after he’d seen it and told me that I HAD to go see the movie, that it could literally change my life.  Now I took that as quite the challenge, and quite the invitation.  A movie that can change your life?  This wasn’t The Passion of the Christ after all; it was a love story of a woman who goes to Tuscany, looking to find a connection to Shakespeare’s tragically fated heroine.  And this was going to change my life?
He told me to be listening for two words through the movie, and once I found those two words, I would know exactly what he meant by life-changing.  Sitting in the theater, I hung on every word, listening for any two words that measured up to “life-changing” status. Let’s just say that, through the course of the movie, I became increasingly frustrated by my inability to find this far-reaching, challenging yet inspiring phrase!
Until….
STUMBLING BLOCK for Today:  FEAR
I could write a book on the subject of fear, and someday, I just might.  I suffered years of debilitating panic attacks during two phases of my life, once while in college and once about 5 years ago.  In future blogs, I’ll discuss this more in depth, but for today, I want to share with you the two most dreaded words in the life of someone who suffers with panic/anxiety.  What If?
  • What if I’m driving on I-85 and I have a panic attack?
  • What if I go to a concert and I’m sitting in the middle of a row and I can’t get out?
  • What if I X, Y, Z….yada yada yada
  • What if?  What if?  What if?
Whatever you fill in the blanks of What If? with, it doesn’t matter.  God knew His children would struggle with fear.  In fact, He is so familiar with our propensity to fear, that He tells us 365 times in the Bible to “Fear Not”.  Don’t let the impact of that pass by too quickly….that’s one for EVERY single day of the year!!  There are so many passages to choose from, but I’ll share one of my favorites:
“Don’t panic. I’m with you.  There’s no need to fear for I’m your God.  I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you.  I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.” Isaiah 41:10 (MSG)
I love that God is telling his child not to panic!  He offers His strength, His presence, His help, and to steady us when we fear.  It’s as if He looked down through the ages, saw me, and spoke those words directly to my heart.  Isaiah 41:10 is the Biblical answer to the times when we ask “What If?”
BUT….WHAT IF?
STEPPING STONE for Today:  WHAT IF?
The climatic scene of Letters to Juliet happens when a letter is read at a wedding that holds “those words”….What If?
“‘What’ and ‘if’… two words as nonthreatening as words come. But put them together side-by-side and they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life: ‘What if?’.  I don’t know how your story ended.  But I know that if what you felt then was love – true love – then it’s never too late. If it was true then, why wouldn’t it be true now? You need only the courage to follow your heart.  I don’t know what a love like that feels like… a love to leave loved ones for, a love to cross oceans for… but I’d like to believe if I ever felt it, I’d have the courage to seize it. I hope you had the courage to seize it, Claire. And if you didn’t, I hope one day that you will.”
Did you catch it?  What if has the power to “haunt you for the rest of your life”….BUT…WHAT IF?
  • WHAT IF we look at life from a place of no fear?
  • WHAT IF we trust God to be Who He says He is?
  • WHAT IF God really DOES have a future planned for us and it is a good one?
  • WHAT IF we really CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens us?
  • WHAT IF  Jesus does desire for us to live a life of fullness and power?
  • WHAT IF we don’t have to live a life of what if?
WHAT IF?  Those two words DO hold life-changing power!  We can look at the world with a WHAT IF mindset….WHAT IF GREAT things come to us?  Let’s agree that we will choose to live out WHAT IF lives and not be held back by worrying about what if.  I promise your life will be radically changed!
Prayer – “Father, I confess that I have lived a life of what ifs.  I have questioned, doubted and lived in fear.  I bind those what ifs in Jesus’ name, and I ask that You give me and each person reading this the power to live in the WHAT IFs of life.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.”
(Just so you’ll know, each blog post will end with a WHAT IF!  The WHAT IF life is the stepping stones that allow us to see challenges as Jesus would have us live.)