'"..even-if..not "what-if"..

"Even-if not "what-if"

Vaneetha Rendall Risner mentions in the book

"the Scars that have Shaped me"

"We all face a staggering array of what-if's... 

No one is free from tragedy or pain. There are no guarantees of an easy life.

 For any of us. Ever.

....I sensed God asking the same question I have wrestled with for decades.

 "Am I enough?"

...He reminded me that I have something far better than a reassurance that my dreaded "what if's" won't happen.

 I have assurance that even if they do happen, God will be there in the midst of them. He will carry me. He will comfort me. He will tenderly care for me.

 God doesn't promise me a trouble-free life. But he does promise that he will be there in the midst of my sorrows.

In the Bible, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego we're not guaranteed deliverance. Just before Nebuchadnezzar delivered them to the fire,

they offered some of the most courageous words ever spoken.

"If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it...

But even if he does not, we want you to know 

that we will not serve your gods"

Daniel 3:17-18(NIV)

Even if.

Those two simple words can take the fear out of life.

Replacing "what if" with "even if" in our mental vocabulary is one of the most liberating exchanges we could ever make.

We trade our irrational fears of an uncertain future for the loving assurance of an unchanging God."