What If?

Two powerful, loaded words...what & if. I've met people from all walks of life who have literally been held captive by these two little words, and not in a good way.


Jimmy Eat World put out a music album entitled Chase This Light. In one of the songs off this album, Dizzy, the lyricist pens this phrase - "you said you'd never have regrets, Jesus is there someone yet who got their wish?" The basic lyric sums up a general thought pattern that exists in our world, trying to live without regret. We even teach in churches this basic principle. But in this case, what we teach and reality are two different things. The bottom line is that we will have regret, it's not a question of whether or not we will...we will all choose to do something that we're not proud of, it's going to happen. Maybe it's an act of violence, or a verbal barrage we launch without thinking about what is being said. The question isn't whether or not we will live without regret, but what will we do with our regret?


Enter our famous two word company line - what if? We can use this simple question of what if to either find freedom from regret, or find shackles of burden and guilt. If we truly believe Jesus is who He says He is, then when He uttered the words "It is finished" from the cross, He paid the price for any regret we may have. We now have the choice to allow our regret to be motivator to do things differently the next time we are faced with similar decisions. 


In my own life I'm learning to see the question of what if in a completely different light. What if I were to allow God to use me despite my regret, my pain, my ineffectiveness and my imperfectness? What if I turned to Jesus instead of trying to do things out of my own strength and skill set? What if I simply let God be God, and I be who He has created me to be...someone who loves Him and loves other people? 


What & if...two small, yet very powerful little words. What if we could see what if from a completely different perspective?