Do you ever play the game, "what if" in your quiet moments? It can be fun when you think of the right decisions, choices, moves you made. You realize the good things and good people you would have missed "if" you had taken a different road. On the other hand it can be a depressing "game" to look back and realize what pain, mistakes, messes you would have avoided "if" you had chosen differently.
I wonder if the Apostle Paul ever played the mind game "what if" while he spent years in prison, first in Caesarea, later in Rome. I thought of this as I read Acts 21 - 26 today. Did he ever wonder:"What if I had cancelled my trip to Jerusalem after being warned about what lay ahead." (21:11) Did he ever think that instead of prison he could have been revisiting the churches he had started or evangelizing in cities he had not yet visited?
Did he ever wonder: "What if when I thought Jewish opponents might murder me, I had not appealed to Caesar?" (26:32) That appeal, which was his right as a Roman citizen, resulted in years apparently "wasted" in prison. "If" he had not appealed to Caesar he might have been murdered. On the other hand, the murder attempt might have been foiled and he would have spent the prison years travelling freely in the Empire, preaching and evangelizing. Did Paul ever wonder "what if"?
Paul never knew what we know. He did not know that we, and millions of others would be very grateful for his time in that Roman prison. From a human perspective, we would have suffered a huge spiritual loss had he not written those three powerful "Prison Epistles", Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians. "What if" he had been busy evangelizing 1st Century people and had failed to write three inspired letters that have ministered to hundreds of millions over 20 centuries? But of course Paul could not know, could not guess the results of what he did then.
And that is why the "what if" game is to be avoided, except for the positives that cause you to smile and/or praise God. When we are tempted to be depressed by "what ifs", we need to remember that only the Sovereign God can see the whole picture of our lives. Only He knows how He is weaving your life to influence others; what he has used to grow your character; how things that look so bad (like being stuck in prison) may be part of His larger very good plan.
Occasionally I have fun with the "what if" game. Like asking Jan how boring her life might have been "if" she had not married me. I give thanks to Jan and to God when I consider "what if" I had missed the opportunity to court and marry her. But I am refusing to play the "what if" game that can drag me down as I remember opportunities I think I wasted and wrong decisions I know I made.
We cannot go back. Once sin has been confessed God promises that it is forgiven and forgotten. With Paul we must choose to forget the things that are past. (Phil. 3:13) Maybe unwise decisions, or choices made out of ignorance, have been or will be used by God in ways we couldn't imagine.
This I do know. You and I are way too small to hinder the master plan, the sovereign plan of God. And this we know and believe: His wonderful promise in Romans 8:28 is eternally true.
(Note: I realize that there is critical debate about the prison epistles origin and authorship. I choose to take the conservative view that they were written by Paul while in prison.)
I wonder if the Apostle Paul ever played the mind game "what if" while he spent years in prison, first in Caesarea, later in Rome. I thought of this as I read Acts 21 - 26 today. Did he ever wonder:"What if I had cancelled my trip to Jerusalem after being warned about what lay ahead." (21:11) Did he ever think that instead of prison he could have been revisiting the churches he had started or evangelizing in cities he had not yet visited?
Did he ever wonder: "What if when I thought Jewish opponents might murder me, I had not appealed to Caesar?" (26:32) That appeal, which was his right as a Roman citizen, resulted in years apparently "wasted" in prison. "If" he had not appealed to Caesar he might have been murdered. On the other hand, the murder attempt might have been foiled and he would have spent the prison years travelling freely in the Empire, preaching and evangelizing. Did Paul ever wonder "what if"?
Paul never knew what we know. He did not know that we, and millions of others would be very grateful for his time in that Roman prison. From a human perspective, we would have suffered a huge spiritual loss had he not written those three powerful "Prison Epistles", Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians. "What if" he had been busy evangelizing 1st Century people and had failed to write three inspired letters that have ministered to hundreds of millions over 20 centuries? But of course Paul could not know, could not guess the results of what he did then.
And that is why the "what if" game is to be avoided, except for the positives that cause you to smile and/or praise God. When we are tempted to be depressed by "what ifs", we need to remember that only the Sovereign God can see the whole picture of our lives. Only He knows how He is weaving your life to influence others; what he has used to grow your character; how things that look so bad (like being stuck in prison) may be part of His larger very good plan.
Occasionally I have fun with the "what if" game. Like asking Jan how boring her life might have been "if" she had not married me. I give thanks to Jan and to God when I consider "what if" I had missed the opportunity to court and marry her. But I am refusing to play the "what if" game that can drag me down as I remember opportunities I think I wasted and wrong decisions I know I made.
We cannot go back. Once sin has been confessed God promises that it is forgiven and forgotten. With Paul we must choose to forget the things that are past. (Phil. 3:13) Maybe unwise decisions, or choices made out of ignorance, have been or will be used by God in ways we couldn't imagine.
This I do know. You and I are way too small to hinder the master plan, the sovereign plan of God. And this we know and believe: His wonderful promise in Romans 8:28 is eternally true.
(Note: I realize that there is critical debate about the prison epistles origin and authorship. I choose to take the conservative view that they were written by Paul while in prison.)
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