What If......

What if.....this question popped up in my mind as I finished the final chapter of the book Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman. In the final chapter he writes about a time when his dad was praying with him before bedtime. They were going to be praying for a family friend who was going through a divorce due the the wife's unfaithfulness. Kyle asked his dad what he would do if he were the husband. His response was a surprise to Kyle, but brought a smile to my heart as I realized how wonderful to have a husband think that way!! Here is the response for those who have not read the book. Remember this is coming from an extremely devoted Christian man. I think I admire him very much!!

“Well, I'd go downstairs. I'd get your wooden baseball bat. I'd drill a hole through the handle. I'd tie a leather strap to that belt. I'd put that strap around my wrist. I'd go over to the man's house and I'd tell him that if he got within one hundred yards of my wife, I would break both his legs.”

If I were the straying wife and my husband went after the man who had seduced me in this fashion, I would love and become more devoted to my husband than he would ever dream possible!! I am sure we would still have to go through counseling to discuss why I had strayed in the first place, but with dedication like this man has for his wife, I think I would be willing to got through anything to be allowed to remain his.

Jesus loves us like this man loves his wife. He would and HAS done any and every thing for us. He claimed our sin as His own, even though He had never personally sinned in His life, took our beating and curses, and then paid the price of death on the cross in our place. Talk about devotion!! If I feel love well up inside me towards my husband just thinking about him being willing to give up everything for me, then shouldn't I feel even greater love for Jesus Who DID give up everything for me?

So my what if thought was this: What if instead of going after straying husbands and/or wives we went after the ones pursuing them? If my best female friend came to me and said her husband was having an affair, I think, after having this question come to mind, I would suggest she go to the woman involved and tell her that she either not come anywhere near her husband again or that she would be sued for grand theft!! I wonder what would happen if she followed that suggestion and became determined to follow through at all costs. I realize that due to the corruptness of the world we live in that this would not work every time. Some spouses would be so heavily involved with the pursuer that they would simply get angry, but I daresay some would wake up to the realization that their husband or wife really, REALLY loved them and would break off the other relationship toot sweet. They would most probably seek forgiveness and reconciliation not only with their spouse, but with God.

What if, when I am hurt or angered by someone, instead of taking it out on them, I turned to the sin that is plaguing them and told it to loose them in the name of Jesus and began to fast and seek God's will for their life? What if I went to them and explained the hurt and/or anger and told them I forgave them and was praying for them rather than seeking revenge? What if I began praying for my neighbors' salvation and started seeking ways to minister to them rather than not wanting to feel rejection and mockery?

What if I was willing to give up one meal a day so that someone else might have one meal a day? What if I were willing to give up some of my “spare” time to read to a senior in a retirement home, make a blanket for a baby of an unwed mother, visit someone lonely and the list goes on.

There are many what ifs out there. At the end of my life I pray that many of them will have gone from “what ifs” to “accomplished.”

 "And he will answer, 'I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.'  Matthew 25:45