What If?

I am pretty confident that most of us have had one of those, “What If” moments where you wondered just how things may have turned out differently if you had made a different choice. My biggest, “What If” moment has just recently came across my mind. When I turned 18, I signed up for the draft because I was required to. I thought myself I will serve if drafted, but I am not going to volunteer. I had several of my classmates signed up to serve in the armed forces right out of high school and now they are comfortably retired and only working at things they enjoy doing. It has made me think to myself, how would my life had been different if I had joined the military and made a career of it? First I would have gotten married at a very young age and had 3 girls and 2 boys, that passed away as infants. I also wouldn't have had a failed marriage after 8 years and been a single father for 4 years. I also wouldn't have met the love of my life Joyce Ellis who helped me raise my 3 girls. Finally, I wouldn't have 6 grandchildren ranging in age from 18 years old to 12 years old. There is no way to know what my life would have looked like. The choices you make in life are similar to throwing a rock into a body of water. It makes waves which ripple out for a long way. Here is my difficult question for you, what if you had enough faith in this life to do all that God would have you to do?

 Matthew 17: 19-20 ESV Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. 

If I had the faith to follow God without fail the impacts of my actions wouldn't be like the ripples caused by throwing a rock into a body of water, it would be more like the wave cased by a tsunami. Everyone and everything around you would be effected by your actions. However the truth of life is that we all live in a broken and sin filled world. We have all been betrayed in one way or another and this causes us to lose our trust in others and ultimately find it difficult to completely trust God. True Faithfulness comes from a place of trust and loyalty. 

Hebrews 11:1 ESV Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 

As a Christian, it is important to be faithful to God. It is one thing to simply believe in Him, but another to be faithful to Him. When we are truly faithful to God, this shapes the way we live. Faithfulness requires us to submit our ways to God. It comes from a place of realizing that we are in need of a Savior and that He is in control of our lives. 

Proverbs 19:21 ESV Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. 

So, how do we grow in our faithfulness? We can grow in our faithfulness by having a personal relationship with Christ. If we are truly faithful to Him and obey His commands, this will be evident in our lives. My challenge to you is this: Think about the ways you show your faithfulness to God. Are there things that are getting in the way of your faithfulness? What areas of your life have you not given over to God? Through spending time in prayer, ask God to make these things clear to you, so that you can grow in your faithfulness. “What If” you were completely faithful in all you do? What If?