What if I don’t get this job? What if there’s accident? What if the economy doesn’t turn around? What if, what if, what if.
How many times have you found yourself asking what if?
When my battle with anxiety began, I found myself asking that question a lot. When I first started attending counseling sessions, I was giving my therapist the rundown on why I was there and seeking help at that time. Once I finished unloading everything, I remember her looking wide-eyed and saying, “Wow. You worry a lot.”
It was blunt—but honest and true. She also told me that what if equals worry and anxiety, but even if says faith. That has stuck with me and really helped me reframe my thoughts.
In the Bible, there are two passages with even if that resonate deeply with me. The first is in Daniel, chapter 3. In this chapter, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are commanded to bow before a golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had built. Because they refused, they were thrown into a fiery furnace. But before they faced what seemed like a horrifying death, they made a bold statement:
Verses 16–18 say:
“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if He doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.’”
If you remember the rest of the story, you know they were thrown into the furnace—a furnace so hot that the soldiers who threw them in burned up. But something miraculous happened. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were accompanied by a fourth figure in the flames, and they came out completely unharmed. What an amazing story of faith!
The next even if moment is found in Habakkuk. In the beginning of the prophet’s book, we find him asking and pleading with God: Why does this evil keep occurring? The Babylonians are about to take over, and Habakkuk is wondering why. He knows God can deliver, but he is weary and tired of all the destruction.
God replies to Habakkuk, saying:
“Look around at the nations; look and be amazed! For I am doing something in your own day—something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it.”
God is encouraging Habakkuk to have faith that everything will ultimately turn out for His glory, even through the devastation. The book ends with a final prayer from Habakkuk, who says in 3:17–19:
“Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty—
yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.”
Despite the evil going on around him, Habakkuk stood firm in faith, trusting that God would deliver His people.
So what can we learn from these two stories?
That our faith must be stronger than our worries and fears. We won’t know every outcome or decision, but we can trust the One who does.
Because even when life is blurred and you can’t see the road ahead,
have faith that God will lead you where you need to be.
