As a writer, I’m really good at playing the What-If Game.
What if a mysterious stranger shows up at the lake cabin my lead character rents for the summer?
What if Madge smashes into an ice cream truck and gets sentenced to community service?
What if a small shepherd boy at the Nativity grows up doubting the miracle he saw?
This is a wonderful game for a writer. It guarantees I will have more material for books than I will ever have time to write.
This is not a good game for life.
I find myself playing what-if about lots of other things, too. What if we can’t make payroll next week? What if my next book doesn’t even sell ten copies? What if my husband isn’t late getting home because the line was long at WalMart but because he is lying in a ditch along the highway somewhere?!
Good grief.
Today, I’m determined to change the rules of this game for myself. From now on in real life, I can only play the game with certain cards in my deck. Cards like these:
What if the Bible is true?
What if God is really for me?
What if He will never leave me?
What if all things actually do work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose?
What if…
Who are those little biddy boys in that picture? *sniff* What if has much less power for me after facing the Big One I had asked myself so much as a kid. (What if I get cancer?) I still ask it all the time anyway, but I like this idea of asking it about the awesome possibilities.
Aren’t they adorable? Yes, the Big Ones seem to bother me less than the little nagging ones.
I know what you mean! I wasted years of my life worrying about the “what ifs” in life that never happened!
I love this! Some guest speakers at our church call this “worrying with God.” They play it like this:
What if the hospitals won’t let us visit anymore because every time we do, all the patients get healed?
What if the Casper airport isn’t big enough to handle all of the people who will come to be a part of the move of God here?
What if I have to get prayer for healing because my cheeks hurt from laughing so much today?
That is great, Eleanor!