My Life as a COMMA!

Do you do this?  Do you play the “What if?” game?  Do you beat yourself up over maybe a different outcome in any particular situation by asking yourself “What if?” questions?

Hmmmm.  I have done this too.  I am guilty of playing this game in my mind.  But I am curious how you end this game. I mean, do you agree that if you had just done something differently, or maybe made a different decision, would things really be that different or that much better?

I’m just curious….because tonight at church….the pastor was speaking on finding favor with God.

Why, you ask, might this lead me to wondering if anyone has played the “What if?” game…..?  Well, let me share a few tidbits and you will understand.

He spoke about how we can walk in God’s favor at all times.  He also explained that being in God’s favor doesn’t mean an easy, care free, wonderful life (sounds a little like my last post!), but instead….it is a life knowing that He has designed us with a purpose….and He is constantly with us!

I have a girlfriend….and no matter where she is in life…if you ask her how she is…her answer is ALWAYS, “Blessed and highly favored!”.  I have come to expect her to say this…always.  And I love it!  I want to think like that.  But I thought, before tonight, that it meant that everything in your life had to be going so well, or just right.  Tonight I learned that is not God’s favor being upon you…that is you looking for God to do you a favor!!  Can I get an…AMEN!!!

Thankfully, this is NOT what walking in the Favor Of God is all about! The pastor calls it….walking in the FOG!  I love it and can’t wait to go back next week to learn more about it!

Well, the part that made me think about the “What if?” game is this….. At the beginning when he talked about finding favor with God…he asked who wanted that….and EVERYONE raised their hands.  Of course!  This is what ALL of us want!  But as he finished up his lesson…..he shared a scripture….with an insight that many never think of when this scripture is read…….

The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”                        Luke 1:28

This is when the angel arrived to Mary to tell her she had been chosen to birth the Messiah!  Like me, you probably think that she had sooooo much faith….or that she was just soooooo good….and God must’ve really loved her the most to give her this great honor.  But at the end of the lesson…our pastor put this in a different light for me.

He said that we see this as a blessing….. she was “blessed and highly favored!  And the Lord was WITH her!  But we also know the rest of the story.  So……what if the angel had said instead, “Greetings, you who are highly favored!  The Lord is with you!  He has chosen you to birth the messiah.  This will seem, to all outsiders to be conception out-of-wedlock, you must suffer for that…as well as have the child in a barn.  And although this child will be perfect….and live a sinless life….. you must watch him be mocked, and ridiculed…..then beaten and put to death on a criminal’s cross!

The pastor asked us again…….”Now…how many of you are still willing to raise your hands and say you want to be HIGHLY FAVORED??????  Seems a little different now.”

And it did.  For me, this is when I thought about the what if game. This is when I considered…….

What if God told us the ENTIRE plan before we embarked on a journey?  Would you still do it?  Would you be willing to take the bad along with the good of the situation?

What if being “highly favored” means walking through some very tough and dark times?  Would it be enough to know that “the Lord is with us” even then?

For me, it made me feel better.  I know…..kind of a weird reaction to the whole lesson.  But for me….after everything I have been through…..it totally confirmed that even though my life isn’t easy or even all great all the time…..I AM BLESSED AND HIGHLY FAVORED! 

And you know what else?  I always have been.

I am SO thankful that even though HE knows the outcome of every situation……He doesn’t let me know.  I hate to admit….but I don’t think I could accept knowing everything …. how hard some of it might be.  I would want to think I’d be strong enough…..brave enough to take on what He intends for my life…even if I knew it all…..but in reality…I just don’t think that is what would happen.

So now, my what if game goes like this….and believe me….I am asked some of these A LOT!

Q. – What if I hadn’t gotten pregnant at sixteen…married and then my first child at seventeen?  A. – Then I wouldn’t have had my precious Cody…or then my adorable Cory….and then maybe not have gone to church and met my best friend who then led me to a relationship with Christ.  And then….my sweet Caleb never would have been a part of my life too.

A. – cont’d……  and I wouldn’t have made the relationships…..friendships….had awesome experiences……in my life.

Q. – What if the boys hadn’t died?   A. – Well…..then I might not have married my sweet husband, had two more beautiful children…..made the friends I have now…. or have the ministry that God has given me in the aftermath of this tragedy.

How can you play what if?????  All that has happened…has made me who I am today!  All that I have gone through…..has led me to this moment of feeling blessed and highly favored!!!!   All of it….good and bad….were a part of His purpose for my life!!!

And ….. now I believe…..with all my heart…..  if it was good enough for Mary….it is definitely good enough for me!

Thank you Lord, for writing my part in Your story one word at a time.  For, if I knew at the top of the page, what would happen at the end of the page…….well…. let’s just say I’d never have considered myself strong enough to endure.  But, now I know, being highly favored simply means…….YOU have been with me….EVERY STEP OF THE WAY!

The pastor described it like this……The Favor Of God is…  The guarantee of His presence and the provision of His power to accomplish His special purpose in and through my life!

WOW!  I love being blessed and highly favored!!!!