“For I know the plans I have for you”–this is the Lord’s declaration–“plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
As a writer, one of my gifts is a vivid imagination. It has served me well in my fiction endeavors–and my non-fiction. No, I don’t make up things and present them as truth. My imagination helps my non-fiction efforts in other ways.
It makes me able to empathize with what others are experiencing. It gives me insight into what may be going on in a certain situation, enabling me to ask the questions that lead to interesting articles.
All in all, I always counted my imagination as a positive trait.
Then our son enlisted in the Marine Corps.
At that moment, my special gift of imagination became a liability instead of an asset. What used to serve me well as I considered all the possibilities, now kept me up at night tormenting me with what-ifs.
We’ve all been there, caught in the unending loop of what might happen. We rehearse scenarios, letting our minds wander from bad to worse.
- What if he’s deployed to the front lines?
- What if he’s injured?
- What if…what if…what if?
The dark places of what-if are populated with nightmares of our own imaginings.
But this isn’t a place that believers need to go. We are protected from the horrors of what-if by an all-seeing God. He never sleeps, and He never relaxes His vigilance on our behalf.
This doesn’t mean bad things won’t happen–far from it in this world. BUT we have His promise that He will take those tragedies and turn them into good. He has our future–and the future of those we love–well in hand.
So when you’re tempted to take up residence in the land of what-if, take a deep breath, look up and choose to dwell in the land of certainty. It’s a place of welfare, not disaster, and it’s filled with hope.
