Exodus 4:1-5 “Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.” Today's episode talks about how to switch from the "what if" spiral we can find ourselves in to thinking about "what is." This can help pull us out of the future and back into the present. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Switching from What If to What Is
Exodus 4:1-5 “Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”
I was listening to a sermon on the Elevation Church podcast the other day. Steven Furtick always has such great sermons. I wanted to share part of this one with you because it was a topic that a lot of us have been struggling with lately. It was something that is pretty common and yet it is not serving us. The title of the sermon was “From What If To What Is” (Click Here) for a link to the full sermon in the show notes if you want to listen to it. It is definitely worth the time to listen to the whole thing. I am just able to briefly touch on what he said but his podcast is a good 45 minutes long, so he has more time to go into depth on it.
This verse starts off by Moses questioning God. God had just told Moses he wanted him to go to Egypt and talk to God’s people. He said he wanted Moses to talk to the most powerful person at the time, the pharaoh of Egypt and tell him he needed to let the Israelites go. He needed to release his entire work force, as the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. Also, Moses has been on the run for 40 years after he killed a man. Moses was concerned no one would believe him if he did as God asked Him to do.
So Moses asked God, "“What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” Moses started right in with the what ifs. This is the only one he mentioned but I wonder if it was the only one? I wonder if this one “what if” spiraled into a bunch of “what ifs?” Has that ever happened to you before, you start wondering what if this happens and what if that happens and before you know it you’ve imagined 50 different scenarios and most of them bad. Did you ever notice your mind doesn’t usually go through all the positive what ifs. When is the last time your brains asked what if I win the lottery? What if everything works out perfectly. What if I do get that job with the pay raise? What if I do meet the man of my dreams? If your brain has done the what ifs with a positive spin then you are lucky, that is not how it usually goes.
So Moses asks God what if they don’t believe him. Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”
God was going to use what Moses already had, the staff, to convince the people that Moses was telling the truth. If God sends you to do something he will give you all you need to do it. We don’t have to question Him. One thing Steven Furtick said that I really liked was, “Do you know how you know if you have what it takes to do what you are called to do?” “You know because God called you to do it. If he called you to it then he gave you everything you need to do it.” This kind of goes along with one of my favorite sayings, which is God doesn’t call the equipped, he equips the called. If God is calling you to do something you can rest assured knowing He has already given you all you need to fulfill that calling.
When Moses said, “What if they don’t believe me.” God said, “What is that in your hand?” Do you see how Pastor Furtick got the title “From What If to What is?” It is such an interesting concept though and one I think could really help some of us. When we ask “What if” we are thinking about the future. We are going through all the scenarios of everything that could go wrong with our day? What if I don’t get this episode done in time? What if people can’t listen when they normally listen? What if they get tired of having to listen later in the day? What if they stop listening? Do you see how one thought can then spiral into a lot of thoughts, each one seemingly more and more serious? I would like to say this type of thought pattern was unusual. It isn’t. If you start to head down the what if road often, you are not alone. There are many of us that do this.
However, when we do this, we are worrying needlessly and we are probably missing out on whatever is happening at the moment because we are too wrapped up in our thoughts. We are too wrapped up in what might happen and so we are missing out on what is actually happening. Let’s examine this concept of moving from what if to what is. If we are focusing on what is, then we are focusing on where we are in that moment. We are also focusing on the facts and so there is a level of confidence that we don’t have when we focus on the unknown. If we focus on the what is we can also take the worry out of it or at least some of it. For instance, let's say you have a bill due and you don’t have the money to pay it. Your mind may start down the what if road. What if I can’t pay this heating bill? What if they then turn off my heat. What if we freeze to death with no heat? What if because I don’t have heat the state comes and takes away my children? What if my children have to grow up in foster care? Do you see how our thoughts can spiral quickly? Do you see how these thoughts are based on the future. They are also based on things I don’t have any real control over.
What about if I focused on the What is question? What is true about this situation. It is true I don’t have the money to pay the bill. Is it true they will turn the heat off, probably not. Most states have laws preventing the utility company from shutting these things off in the winter. It is true that I have blankets and warm clothes if they did turn the heat off. It is true that my children are at home with me right now and no one is threatening to take them away. Do you see how these thoughts can keep you in the present moment? These examples have a bit of problem solving in them but this doesn’t have to be the case. You focusing on “what is” could be as simple as what is true in this moment. For instance, if you are going down the what if road about your relationship you can stop yourself and just state what is true right now. In this moment I know he loves me, I know I love him. I know we are happy. I know we enjoy spending time together. Do you see how these thoughts will lift your spirits and the what if thoughts will bring you down? Do you see how thinking like this keeps you in the present moment and the what if thoughts propel you into the unknown future? The next time you are caught in a “what if” spiral, see if you can remember to switch to “what is.” If you often get stuck on the “what if” road to misery maybe put up a detour sign. Put a sticky note somewhere you will see it reminding you to switch from “what if” to “what is.” You will be so much happier when you do.
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this podcast today! Lord, help us to stay in the present moment. Help us to think about what is and leave the what ifs to you. You are our Lord and our Savior. You can take care of all the what ifs before we even get to them. You are bigger than anything that could come our way. Help us to trust that Lord. Help us to trust you have already thought of all the what ifs and you have prepared us for them. We love you Lord. You are truly amazing. We are so grateful we have you looking out for us and preparing the way. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to spending time with you again on Monday. Remember, Jesus loves you and so do I! Have a blessed weekend!