I am binge watching a show on TV during this pandemic. It is set in Canada. The scenery is beautiful and the story began 13 years ago when two sisters lost their mother. Their mother was a renowned horse whisperer and was killed trying to save a horse. Her youngest daughter was with her when the accident happened. Guilt fills the young teenager, but so does the ability to work with horses, just as her mother. The older daughter had started a life in New York when the accident accrued but came home to be with the family.
The show has gone thru many life changing situations for both girls. Each time there is always doubt and …what if.
What if I hadn’t survived the accident; the horse dies; the Veterinarian doesn’t get here; the storm keeps up; he’s too sick to make it home; I don’t marry him; I do marry him? I should not go; I should stay. Sooo much drama.
What if? What if? What if?
Never quite believing what they did or were going to do was the right thing to do. Thank heaven they have grown up.
But it makes me wonder, are we plagued with the what ifs?
What if I have an accident? What if I get Covid-19? What if my friend dies? What if a family member dies? What if I don’t have much time to live? What if the school doesn’t open? What if I can’t find a babysitter? What if I lose my job? What if I get shot? What if the riots continue? What if I don’t agree with what is going on? What if I vote for the wrong person?
What if___________________? (fill in the blank)
What if?
Do you live your life asking ‘what if’ about what might be or might have been? Where is your faith? As it states in 2 Timothy 1:7, For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.
Where is your spirit?
God does not want us to live our lives in fear and asking ‘what if’. He wants us to Fully Rely On GOD; FROG!
What if we lived in peace?
What if we loved our neighbor as our self?
What if we started each day thanking God for a new day in our numbered years?
What if we thanked God for his protection? His presence? His wisdom? His guidance? His grace? His Love?
What if we took to heart John Lennon’s song Imagine?
Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace, you
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world, you
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
What if we came together, united in Christ, to live in peace? As Jesus said in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Or be united in Christ through his love.
Burt Bacharach wrote about love in his song; What the world needs now.
What the world needs now
Is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now
Is love, sweet love
No, not just for some, but for everyone
It seems that love of our fellow man or woman is in short demand. What if we could bring ourselves to love each other just as Christ loves us? As Christ commanded us in John 13:34 “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another;” or 1 John 4:16a, God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him; or verse18, There is no fear in love; or verse 21, Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
We can live in fear by ‘what if-ing’ our life away or we can be united in Christ. Living our lives doing what Christ instructed us to do. Love one another; trust and obey Him; surrender all to Him; HOPE in Him; have His assurance; believe in His promises, be healed; be forgiven of our sins; be filled with His Grace; spread the Good News and live in peace.
As Sy Miller and Jill Jackson wrote: Peace begins with you and me.
Let there be peace on earth,
And let it begin with me;
Let there be peace on earth,
The peace that was meant to be.
With God our creator,
Children all are we.
Let us walk with each other
In perfect harmony
Let peace begin with me;
Let this be the moment now
With every step I take,
Let this be my solemn vow:
To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.
Love and peace begins with us when we are united in Christ.
Joyce Trevolt
Associate Lay Leader
West District
