Remaining Faithful Through Our What Ifs

What if one of my loved ones contracts COVID?

What if I lose my job?

What if life never returns to “normal?”

Life seems to present us with an extra dose of “what-ifs” whenever it takes a turn for the unexpected.

Have you felt the weight of “what-ifs” lately? With God, we can replace the what-ifs with even-ifs.

Replacing What If With Even If

Acknowledging God’s provision in the messy, unexpected circumstances that surround our lives allow us to shift our what-ifs to even-ifs.

Acknowledging God's provision in the messy, unexpected circumstances that surround our lives allow us to shift our what-ifs to even-ifs. Click To Tweet

Throughout my life, and particularly amid my health battle, I at times felt discouraged by seemingly forgotten or ignored prayers. God felt distant.

Where is God? Why isn’t he answering my prayers?

These days, I sometimes feel it too as I question the need for so much pain and suffering in our world.

But no matter what mess surrounds our lives, what I know to be true is that God has never abandoned me. He is always there. And on many occasions, those prayers that seemed dismissed or ignored at first eventually resulted in prayers answered in ways I never would have imagined.

Have you felt that too?

God doesn’t always fulfill all of our wants, but He does take care of each and every one of our needs.

God doesn't always fulfill all of our wants, but He does take care of each and every one of our needs. Click To Tweet

Let’s Get Practical

A small, practical way that we can remind ourselves of this truth is by replacing our what-ifs with even-ifs.

One of my greatest what-ifs to surface during my health battle was the question of whether or not the tumor would return. It happened once; I knew it could easily happen again. As a reminder of all that God had done, I shifted my what-if question into these even-if statements:

Even if the tumor returns, God’s love for me will remain.

Even if the tumor returns, God will continue to provide for me as I endure difficult days.

Even if the tumor returns, I can trust God with the outcome.

Even when life is full of uncertainty, God is with us and He welcomes us to lean on Him amid the storms and trials we face. Knowing God is present doesn’t always eliminate the what-ifs playing out in our minds. What it does is remind us to pause and recognize that even if the outcomes do not match the desires of our hearts, God will meet us in that space as we draw near to Him.

In life, whether it be present struggles or those to come, may we be reminded that God will see us through. God will never fail to meet our needs and because of that, we can confidently say:

Even if life doesn’t turn out as planned, I know that God has a plan and I can trust Him with my life.

Even if life never returns to normal, God is still faithful and He is still present.

As we place our trust in God, He will continue to meet us right where we are.

Lord,

We thank you for your daily provision, for your grace, and for your strength in our weakness. Help us to pay attention to the ways you are at work in our lives as we strive to trust in you by turning our what-ifs into even ifs. May you continue to meet us right where we are.

Amen.