During this season of slowing down, I, like others, have made it a priority to focus on my relationship with God. Being human, many times my mind enters into the “what ifs”. What if I decorated my house with this theme. What if we had bought that house instead of this house. What if Hannah Paul marries someone and he takes her many miles away. And yes, what if JD were still alive on this earth. When we start with the “what ifs” we lose sight of the “what is”.
It was during one of my quiet times that God reminded me of a verse that is hanging in my dining area. 1st Thessalonians says, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Jesus Christ.” This really stirred in my heart. Everything that is happening today has already been designed by God to happen. (EVERYTHING) We can’t change His will with “what ifs”. However, what we can do is as we are commanded. We can love God and love others. What if this person would think like me? Yes, we’ve all said that. Instead of looking at it like that, we should be showing them the compassion that Jesus shows us. In order to do that we have to love them enough to actually show them Jesus. We can’t do that by arguing with them, by the way. What we can do is pray first that our thoughts line up with Jesus’ thoughts (the what is). Then we can pray for their thoughts to do the same. Prayer is not about changing God’s will. It is about changing us to accept His will.
Even when things seem like they are out of control, they are not. God has it all under His control. So instead of us wanting to change God’s control with “what ifs”, let’s accept the “what is” and embrace what is happening with love for Jesus and for others.
Chrisine
It was during one of my quiet times that God reminded me of a verse that is hanging in my dining area. 1st Thessalonians says, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Jesus Christ.” This really stirred in my heart. Everything that is happening today has already been designed by God to happen. (EVERYTHING) We can’t change His will with “what ifs”. However, what we can do is as we are commanded. We can love God and love others. What if this person would think like me? Yes, we’ve all said that. Instead of looking at it like that, we should be showing them the compassion that Jesus shows us. In order to do that we have to love them enough to actually show them Jesus. We can’t do that by arguing with them, by the way. What we can do is pray first that our thoughts line up with Jesus’ thoughts (the what is). Then we can pray for their thoughts to do the same. Prayer is not about changing God’s will. It is about changing us to accept His will.
Even when things seem like they are out of control, they are not. God has it all under His control. So instead of us wanting to change God’s control with “what ifs”, let’s accept the “what is” and embrace what is happening with love for Jesus and for others.
Chrisine
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