What If? What Now? What Next?

What If?  It's a thought process that we entertain occasionally!

What if....I was rich?
What if....I married a model?
What if....I owned a beach house?
What if....I had a better job?

Why does it seem that we generate a "better" set of circumstances than those we find ourselves in?

Unfortunately "What If" is a fantasy land, a distraction from the facts, a red herring, a mirage, a ghost.  "What If" is better defined as "What Was."   "What Was" defines the facts of our past existence until today.  "What Was" is the true and factual account of our lives.  "What Was" is not negotiable.    If we continually entertain the fantasy scenarios generated by What If, we will never concentrate on the better question....which is....What Now?

What Now is where the rubber hits the road....it is the visceral reality of our lives in the present moment.  What Now is all about today.  What Now is important because.....What Now prepares us for the most important question of all.....which is What Next?

David was the youngest son of Jesse.  David had 7 brothers, all of which were older and more experienced than he was.  In fact, David was doing a job that was one of the most menial and despised jobs in all of Israel.  He was shepherding sheep.  But....David was taking care of What Now.  He took shepherding to a new level!  When the lion and the bear came to kill his fathers sheep....he defended them at his own peril.  He was taking very good care of What Now.

As David was taking care of What Now.....Samuel came looking for him to annoint him as the next King of Israel.  What Next took care of itself!

The same can be said of many Bible leaders.  As they were faithfuly taking care of What Now....What Next took care of itself.  Abraham was just living a righteous life in a foreign country, taking care of What Now...and What Next came calling.   Peter and and Andrew were fishing.....taking care of What Now....when Jesus walked over to them and called them into What Next.

The takeaways for me are:

I waste my time rolling the dice and amusing myself with the fantasy outcomes of "What If."
I would do much better to focus my attention on What Now and make sure that What Now is being done well.
What Next is always up to God and will arrive on time.

For me, this also translates into one more blessing....as I take care of What Now.....I have peace of mind....because I know who will take care of What Next.

The Other Side of the Door

Living away from home as a young child is very difficult, mainly because you find yourself on the wrong side of the door.  

The feelings of abandonment and loneliness can be overwhelming and debilitating in the best of circumstances.  Eight years of my life  were spent living at a "boarding school", a place 500 miles from home.  I had "houseparents" who took care of me, set the schedules, rang the bells, carried out the discipline, assigned the chores....and tried to love 20 kids the best they could.  In spite of their best efforts, most of us had moments when our hearts broke and we cried....we wanted to be on the other side of the door.  

 

Maybe that is the reason why I love coming home so much.  As the end of the work day draws near, the excitement of going home begins to increase.  The best part by far, is putting your key in the door and finding everyone that you love the most....on the other side of the door.  "Daddy's home!"   It is the best feeling in the world.....living on the other side of the door. 

 

At boarding school we were on the trimester plan which meant that every 13 weeks we got to go home for 4 weeks!  Our lives changed, life was wonderful again,......for those 30 days......we were on the right side of the door.   I survived those days on the wrong side of the door because I had 90 days a year.....on the right side of the door.  

 

Children who need foster care are living on the wrong side of the door.  Agencies do their best, but there is no substitute for reuniting those children with their birth parents through a temporary stay with a loving foster family....or, adopting those children into a family of their very own.  They need to be on the right side of the door.

 

Actually, we have all lived on the wrong side of the door.  Revelations 3:20 Jesus says,  "Look!  I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends."  NLT 

 

Living on the outside of the door is a choice.  Living on the inside of the door is a choice.  Choosing to open the door to a foster child, is not just a choice, it is an act of love. 

 

There might be a child standing on the outside of your door.  Would you consider bringing them in....to the right side of the door?

Suffering Equals Credibility

My brother Andrew died of malaria. He was just 8 months old.  His fever reached 105-106F more than enough to cause brain damage.

My Mother knew.  She prayed that a loving and kind God would take him home to Heaven.

Little did we know then......what we know now.

In Congo, Africa, most families lose infants and toddlers to a whole host of opportunistic diseases.  Most families....except the white missionary families......until now.

We cried.

African families cried with us.....they knew our pain....they had lost children too....many had lost multiple children.

As the African women comforted my Mother they said, "When you first came to us you were just a worthless young single woman, but then you married a man.  We rejoiced with you because now you, like us, understood the joy and the sorrows of living with a man.  Later, you had a baby son, and we rejoiced with you because now, like us, you had endured the pain and experienced the joy of childbirth.  We were happy for you.

But you were not quite complete until you experienced the death of your child....today you are a complete woman.

From that day on, African women listened to my Mother, they received her advice and teaching with open hearts and minds.  She was considered trustworthy.  She was fully accepted in the African community.  She was credible.  As a result, my Mothers ministry was accepted, trusted, received, empowered and multiplied.

Why?  Because of suffering.  Without the death of my brother, my Mothers ministry would not have been empowered in the minds and hearts of African women.

To be credible in ministry, we must have experienced loss.   Suffering bridges the gap between the message and the man or woman who hears it.  Jesus was a "Man of sorrows and was acquainted with grief."   Jesus was credible....because he had experienced suffering himself.

What can I learn here?  What is the "takeaway?"

It's this:  Suffering equals credibility in the ministry.  Let your suffering make you credible.

Do we miss Andrew?  Yes.

I named my son Andrew in honor of his Uncle....and so that my Mom and Dad could catch a glimpse of what might have been on Earth.....until in Heaven, the tears run dry and we are all together again.

In the town of Isiro, Congo....there is a small grave....but for miles around there are families whose lives were changed by the message of the Gospel because suffering and loss made the Gospel credible!