Beware of the 'IF' in Life

I'm gonna be a man about it and put my business out there, regardless of what anyone may think about me afterward: I'm afraid of mice. A lot! The fact that something so much smaller than me can move so much faster than me and fit in holes so much smaller than its own body... that just freaks me out. A lot!

That's why I say be afraid of the quiet and small ones--or things--because you never know... you never know


IF

It's small and quiet; 'IF' is. A perfect formula to strike fear. Instead it strikes doubt in the mind of the one who tries to confront it. You see, 'IF' is the perfect military strategist. It knows it cannot overpower the enemy on the outside, because the enemy is too strong. So it presents itself for what it is: small and quiet. Its goal: inner destruction. It has not need to speak, because once present, the enemy has two equally fatal choices:

A. Say its name out loud, allowing easy access to the mind

B. Simply look at it and say its name in the mind

Either way, the mind is where it going to reach, so the enemy picks his poison; regardless, defeat is inevitable, when faced with 'IF'.

And it's so subtle, 'IF' is. It's kind of like watching a movie with a subtle tune in the background that at first you don't notice, but once the tune stops, you notice its absence after a while--if you even notice.

Know what I mean?

That's what makes 'IF' so dangerous, how subtle it is. It reminds me of this story I once heard:

Two lions were starving! One was much older and wiser than the other.

After hours of searching the terrain for food, they spotted a herd of Zebras down by the greenery. Finally, they will have some food! But the younger noticed something strange in his companions behavior. "What's the matter with you? Let's run down roaring so we can get ourselves one of these Zebras!" he said. The much older lion replied, "Run down and they'll flee from fear. Walk down subtly and we can catch as many as we want."

Genesis 3

"Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, "Yea, hath God said, 'Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" Genesis 3:1

I gotta give props to it: the serpent is a smooth animal. He was real smooth with it. It pretended as if--oh! oh! here goes that word--it didn't know what God really said to Adam and Eve. If it hasn't hit you yet, that's what's called the hook. The 'hook' is that catch phrase or that question that engages you in a thought process or a conversation, mainly to end up buying or doing something you initially didn't want to.

"Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, [as she giggles: Silly!]” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die." Genesis 3:2,3

Eve was hooked!

"You won’t die! [as it giggles: Silly!]" the serpent replied to the woman. "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil." Genesis 3:4,5

Matthew 4

"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry." Matthew 4:1,2

This guy was hard core; Jesus was. I didn't go into no desert for forty days and forty nights after I got baptized to fast; I don't know about you. But Jesus did. For a month and nine/ten days (give or take) Jesus had no food, no water--granted he didn't go in February, that is.

Ever been hungry? Better yet, ever been starving? Ever spent a month and some days without eating? Imagine the hungriest you've ever been in your life so far, and multiply it by... a lot!

"During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread." Matthew 4:3

Check it.

'IF' has an interesting characteristic about it. It takes a fact, something known, established, concrete, changes its entire nature and distorts it into a lie, a condition, anything else...

Fact

"So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them." Genesis 1:27

Lie

"You won’t die!" the serpent replied to the woman. "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil." Genesis 3:4,5

Fact

"After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy'." Matthew 3:16,17

Condition

"During that time the devil came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread."
Matthew 4:3

The walk down that road is not a good one, because there is nothing but doubt, deception, hurt, and too many unanswered questions. Unfortunately for us, Eve and Adam were unable to resist and defeat the powers of 'IF'. Fortunately for us, our last hope did not depend on them. Fortunately for us, our final hope depended on the One who not only resisted but defeated the powers of 'IF' and its #1 fan, Jesus!

So here we are, on life's journey. Not an easy one; no, not at all! And we experience many things, tough things, that makes us question God. I was recently speaking to a friend who, unfortunately, is seeing his parent's marriage crumble before his eyes. And this dude is feeling the full blow. Having been there myself but a year or so ago, I know what he is going through and the things that are going on in his mind.

So we sit down to talk, and it's good that he spoke and got many things off of his chest. I remember telling him that when I was in his place now, I asked God many questions. I asked God a whole lot of "why's". At the same time there were many other questions racing in my head--just like they were racing in his head--just like they race through your head. And Satan seizes the opportunity: "If God loves you so much, why is he letting you go through this hard times?" "If God loves you so much, why doesn't he make the pain go away?"

"If God loves you so much, why is he letting your parents get a divorce?" "If God loves you so much, why did he let [insert name] die like that?" "If he's such a loving God, why doesn't he do anything about it?" "Why didn't he do a miracle like he did back in the days?" "If he's soo good, why didn't he do as you asked? Didn't he say 'to whom asks it will be given'?"

I can keep on going, trust me

But like I told my friend, these are very legitimate questions that are not legitimate at all. What Satan is trying to make you forget--to make me forget-- is that "...faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

So when Satan throws an 'IF' at me--at you-- I'd respond like this: "It is because God loves me he is allowing me to go through hard times! He obviously sees something I cannot see, so I am trusting that he will lead me through whatever the situation may be."

But a better response is this: "Get out of here, Satan, for the Scriptures say..." Matthew 4:10

I want to respond like Jesus when he stood face to face with an 'IF'.

Always remember that God promised he'd be with you (and me) ALWAYS, even after this world is destroyed! So beware of the 'IF' in lIFe.



Enjoy "La Belleza de la Cruz" (The Beauty of the Cross) by Cristal Lewis