What if...?

 

“Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

—Matthew 1:20

Fears come to all of us. For this reason, Joseph and Mary certainly must have had tremendous apprehension after both of them had visitations from the angel of the Lord. They no doubt felt, in the depths of their spirits, one of the most common thoughts that we have as humans: “What if…?”

Joseph must have considered:

• “What if my reputation is ruined
  
  
• “What if I can no longer make a living in this town to support my wife and child?”
  
  
• “What if I am the only one to help Mary deliver her baby?”
  
  

Teen-age Mary must have questioned many things and wondered:

• “What if my parents don’t believe the word the angel gave to me?”
  
  
• “What if the baby comes while we are on the way to Bethlehem?”
  
  
• “What if there is no place where we can stay when we get there?”
  
  
• “What if robbers overpower us and take all we have?”
  
  
• “What if I have trouble in childbirth?”
  
  

Vaneetha Risner, in her book, The Scars That Have Shaped Me, develops this theme in one of the chapters. She reminds us: ¹

People in the Bible were unsettled by what-if questions, too. When he was told to lead the Israelites, Moses asked God, “What if they don’t believe me?” Abraham’s servant asked about Isaac’s future wife, “What if the young woman refuses to come with me?” Joseph’s brothers asked, “What if Joseph bears a grudge against us?”

In the development of her book chapter, Risner wonders if instead of asking: “What if…?” we should declare: “Even if…” because we can be assured God will be there with us. As a positive example of this, she uses the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were not guaranteed deliverance from the fiery furnace.

Faced with imminent death, just before King Nebuchadnezzar sentence them to be placed into the fiery furnace, these three men replied to the King, as recorded in Daniel 3:17-18:

“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it… But even if he does not, we want you to know… that we will not serve your gods.”

Risner sums up their change of thinking with these words: ²

Even if. Those two simple words can take the fear out of life. Replacing “what if” with “even if” in our mental vocabulary is one of the most liberating exchanges we can ever make. We trade our irrational fears of an uncertain future for the loving assurance of an unchanging God. We see that even if the very worst happens, God will carry us. He will still be good. And he will never leave us.

Job came to a similar conclusion. In Job 13:15, the Patriarch states about God:

“Though [even if] he slay me, yet will I hope in him;”

We get a hint that the virgin Mary must have had this mindset, too. Though she didn’t share the words “What if…?” or “Even if…,” she did express her faith by speaking to the angel these words recorded in Luke 1:38:

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.”

As we live through frightening days and we ponder scary thoughts, we hear within our minds, these words:

Let us decide to trust in the God who will keep us even if our worst case scenarios happen.

May we stretch our faith in His power and love by holding very tightly to His mercy and grace. Amen.

______________________

1 Risner, Vaneetha Rendall. The Scars that Have Shaped Me. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Desiring God, 2016. Pp. 115-116.

2 Ibid. p. 118.