What happens to us when we’re caught up in the “what ifs” of life? What if this happens or that doesn’t happen? This “what if” condition is really just fear, isn’t it? When fear grips your mind, it can paralyze you.

Do you remember the story of Moses when God confronted him and told him he had a job for him to do—to face Pharaoh and deliver his people from bondage? Moses had a bunch of “what ifs.”

What if “I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” “What if I can’t speak well because I am not eloquent and I am slow of speech?” (Exodus 3)

Moses had lots of reasons why he could not do what God was asking him to do. But God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” God reminded Moses that he could go with confidence in God’s ability to do what Moses could not do. Moses’s “what ifs” were real, but the God Jehovah was greater than his fears.

Are you in the “what if” stage of doing what God has asked you to do? What if I fail? What if people think I’m crazy? What if I don’t have enough resources? If that’s where you are, I understand. I’ve been there, but I’ve learned that if God is in it, he will accomplish it through you. Following Jesus is not risk-free. C. S. Lewis puts it this way, referring to Aslan, the Lion in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, “He's not safe, but he's good.” If you’ve decided to follow Jesus, you are learning that it’s not always safe, but it’s always good to do what God is calling you to do.

You can trust God, wherever he is leading you. He is good and he will take care of all your “what ifs,” just as he did for Moses. Remember, his name is I AM—I am everything you need. And you can replace your “what ifs” with this truth from 1 Thessalonians 5:24: “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”

If you’re stuck in one of life’s “what ifs,” I want to encourage you to start a new good habit in your life—to go from “what if” to “even if.” You remember the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, those...

If you’re stuck in one of life’s “what ifs,” I want to encourage you to start a new good habit in your life—to go from “what if” to “even if.”

You remember the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, those three Jewish young men who were forcibly taken from Jerusalem to Babylon to serve in King Nebuchadnezzar’s court.  Shortly after they were forced into the service of this pagan king, they were faced with a direct affront to their faith in Jehovah God, as the king set up a golden image and said that everyone had to fall down and worship this pagan image or else be thrown into a fiery furnace.

Talk about a “what if”! What if they continued to serve the true God, Jehovah, and refused to bow down and worship that golden idol? They would perish as young men in the prime of their lives. This was a serious what if; there was no question that refusing to obey the king’s order would result in death. So, what was their decision? Here it is from Daniel 3:

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (Daniel 3:16-18).

They went from “what if” to “even if” and declared that they trusted in their God to deliver them, but even if they were burned to death in that furnace, they would not bow to any other god.

Maybe you’re facing a fiery furnace of your own—something that could totally destroy you, or so it seems. Maybe a financial furnace, or a health furnace, or a relationship furnace, and you’re in the “what if” stage as you face that furnace. Can you replace your “what if” with an “even if,” declaring that even if your fears are realized, even if the worst happens, you will trust in God to deliver you, to go through it with you, and to rescue you?

Can you say with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, “even if he does not,” you will trust him? That is walking by faith and not by sight, and even if your faith seems small or weak, God will be pleased with your “even if,” and you can be sure he will get you through. I pray you will place your trust in the same God who delivered these young men and who will deliver you.

What if you got a medical report back that wasn’t good? What if you lost your job? What if you caught COVID-19? What if someone you love died? What if you were robbed by a car-jacker? What if someone broke into your home? What if. . . What if. . .What if. . .

I could go on for hours listing all the possible “what ifs” you or I could face. And what would be the result of focusing on that list? It would discourage us; it would frighten us; it would worry us; it would make us miserable. So, let me ask you: How much time do you spend in the “what ifs” of life? In fear and worry, thinking about what could or might happen?

Here’s another “what if”: What if you changed “what if” to even if”? Even if I lose my job. . . even if I catch COVID-19, even if I’m robbed, even if someone I love dies. If you’re born from above through faith in Jesus Christ, what if you faced your “what ifs” with truth from God’s Word, truth that would set you free from the fear and worry and despair that your “what ifs” have caused?

We have promises from God’s Word that we should throw in the face of our “what ifs.” Promises like:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze (Isaiah 43:2).

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

So, when you’re facing a “what if,” stop and talk to yourself. Seriously, you need to talk to yourself—out loud if possible—and remind yourself of God’s promises. Remind yourself of these truths. Bring those “what if” thoughts into captivity and make them obey the Lord.

What if you got a medical report back that wasn’t good? What if you lost your job? What if you caught COVID-19? What if someone you love died? What if you were robbed by a car-jacker? What if someone broke...

I remember a song we sang when I was young: Why worry when you can pray? Well, it’s a good question, isn’t it? Why do we worry when Jesus has clearly told us not to worry? Worrying is truly worthless!

Matthew 6 is a familiar passage. I’m sure you’ve read it many times, but let’s review it once again. Jesus said:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:25-34).

In this passage there are at least three reasons why we should not worry if we belong to God through faith in Jesus Christ. They are:

Because of who we are—we are more valuable than birds.

Because it never does any good.

Because it’s a bad testimony.

Worry is a function of your mind, your thoughts. So, in order to stop worrying, you have to change your thought patterns. And in order to change your thought patterns, you have to replace wrong thoughts with right thoughts. So here is one thought that can stop you from worrying:

You have a heavenly Father who is taking care of you.

Jesus said in Matthew 6 that our heavenly Father knows what we need and will provide for our needs when we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. Now, this may cause you to ask some questions, like “Why doesn’t God answer all my prayers if he is taking care of me?” That’s what we expect a father to do, right? I think of my own father and I am certain that if he could have met any need I had, he would have done it, and he often did.

Sometimes it seems that our earthly father is more predictable than our Heavenly Father. Most earthly fathers can be counted on to do anything they can for their children. Yet often our Heavenly Father doesn’t come through for us the way we think he should, or the way we want him to. Does he love us less than our earthly father? Why doesn’t he act like my earthly father would?

The answer to that is because he has a different agenda for us from our earthly fathers. He has an eternal agenda, and his purpose is to conform us to the image of Jesus Christ. That daily transformation that needs to take place in our lives often comes through unexpected—and sometimes unwanted—ways.

Spurgeon, a great preacher of the 19th Century, wrote: “O blessed acts of sorrow that cut a pathway to our God by chopping down the tall trees of human comfort.” Isn’t it true that the difficulties and uncertainties of life are the things that teach us to depend on our Heavenly Father? For the past year we’ve all been learning that nothing is certain except our God and his promises to us. So, even when you’re in the midst of tough times and you don’t see how God is taking care of you, you should not worry, because he is working everything out for your good. “In all things God works for the good of those who lo...

I remember a song we sang when I was young: Why worry when you can pray? Well, it’s a good question, isn’t it? Why do we worry when Jesus has clearly told us not to worry? Worrying is truly worthless!...

There’s an old song that says, “I am loved, I am loved, I can risk loving you, for the one who knows me best, loves me most.” And the truth is, when we are confident in God’s love for us, when we know that we are the one Jesus loves, we can risk loving others.

If you don’t have that sure knowledge, if it hasn’t made a difference in your life to know that Jesus loves you, then it could be because you don’t yet really have an established relationship with God through Jesus. You haven’t yet become a member of God’s family through faith in Jesus Christ. That, of course, is step one.

Or it could be that you are a sincere Christ-follower, but you haven’t gotten to know God very well. You haven’t made getting to know God a high priority in your life, and so you don’t spend much time in Bible study or fellowship with other believers or giving of yourself to others for Christ’s sake.

You see, the more you know God through Jesus, the more you love him and the more you understand his love for you. The more you value the knowledge that you are the one Jesus loves.

You can never short-change the input of God’s Word into your life and expect to be firmly grounded in who you are in Christ. But if you will make that a priority, to get to know Jesus better and better through his word and fellowship and Bible teaching, and if you will begin to tell yourself daily that you are the one Jesus loves, I promise you’re going to move in a new direction with God.

I know—we can talk about your baggage, we can talk about your circumstances and your past, we can talk about all the mistakes you’ve made and the things that are missing in your life; we can bring up all the wrong that’s been done to you. But what good does it do to focus on that? Instead, to begin to truly see yourself as the one Jesus loves is the best thing you can do to find healing and put all that behind you. I invite you—I urge you—to find your identity in the marvelous truth that you are the one Jesus loves.

There’s an old song that says, “I am loved, I am loved, I can risk loving you, for the one who knows me best, loves me most.” And the truth is, when we are confident in God’s love for us,...

Do you know that you are the one Jesus loves? The Apostle John referred to himself as the one whom Jesus loves because that was his identity. If you asked him, “Who are you?,” he would say, “I am the...