(1,304)
The first dumb question that crosses every human being’s lips is usually “what if?“
“What if” I had done this? “What if” that happens? There is an ongoing flirtation we seem to have with the past and the future that leaves us either in regret or great anxiety. I will tell you that if you want to relieve a good portion of your human frustration, you need to do nothing more than simply stop believing in destiny. Otherwise you spend all your time wondering if you missed your destiny or if your mysterious opportunity–predestined in the stars or the heavens–is right around the corner.
Let me tell you this–I can always pick out a charlatan. Anyone who says they know what’s going to happen in the furure is a phony. Why? Because the establishment of free will eliminates the possibility of there even being a future.
Although God is all-knowing, in some strange way beyond my comprehension, He isn’t quite sure what I’m going to be doing next( even though He probably should). Having granted me free will, that particular gift is honored above all others. So the introduction of the question “what if” is always dumb because it is either a re-telling of the past or a foolish exploation into a future that only exists in your and my hands. I do not want to live in a world controlled by either star constellations or angels. Even Biblical prophecy is more a citing of trends than a proclamation of certainties. God granted me free will, and I plan on using it–and the minute we start wondering “what if,” we become seekers of fortune rather than fortunate seekers.
I had a comical conversation yesterday with a young man in his mid-twenties. It was comical because he shared with me that he often finds his belief in the Christian faith to be difficult because some of the things that adherents hold to be true bother him. Things like Jonah and the whale and Noah’s ark. I didn’t argue with him but I had to smile because I know his particular entertainment choices include a vast panorama of fantasy, Lord of the Rings, vampire movies–and he, himself, recently appeared in a futuristic production about a creature who comes from another time–a robot–to save the human race. He would say that he knows those stories are fiction–he just uses them for entertainment and inspiration. So what happens if somebody is a believer in Jesus and thinks that the Bible stories are great for entertainment and inspiration?
You see, we all choose when we’re going to become ethereal. All I’m telling you is that the less heavenly-minded you choose to be, the more good you will find in the earth.
“What if” is a question that not only has no answer, but also makes us begin to believe that our decisions and lives are out of our control and are pre-determined in some sort of mystic world where “cloudy” decisions are made in the cosmos about our outcome.
Get one thing straight: free will is sacred. Period. Once you understand that, then God is not nearly as difficult to comprehend, and the difficulties that occur in our lives can normally be traced back to our inability to address our situations in the present.
Here’s a three-step process I’d like to pass along to you:
1. Live in the moment. The past is gone and the future will have to be decided by you later on. It could be affected, though, by what you do in the next moment.
2. As you live in that moment, take a moment to learn everything about the moment and enjoy everything the moment provides. Stop looking at life as a bus route where if you miss one, there will be another one coming along soon. If you believe that your steps are ordered of the Lord and He’s with you, then you’ll understand that life is more like a limousine that pulls up just for you–and you’d better hop in because they don’t arrive on the quarter hour. Do you see what I mean? It’s about treasuring the next moment’s opportunity as essential for you to use for your own benefit.
3. And finally, once you’ve taken a moment to live in the moment, understand that momentarily, things will evolve. One of the major reasons we decide to live in the moment is that little, subtle nuances of opportunities sprout up, and if we’re looking into the past or gazing into the crystal ball of the future, we often miss this moment’s gentle offerings.
So live in the moment–and while you’re there, take a moment to get everything off of it you can, because momentarily things will evolve.
There you go.
In conclusion–that’s one dumb question so far. “What if?”
We are not a people of destiny. We are a people of the moment. So the more we live within those boundaries, the more sense our lives will make and the more fruitful our endeavors will become.
***************
Jonathan sings “Let”
Jonathan Sings “Spent This Time”
Jonathan and his partner, Janet Clazzy, play “The Call”
Jonathots Daily Blog 