Sanity
What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? Romans 3:3 NIV
What if – “Sanity – what we get when we quit hoping for a better past.”[1] What if you and I had only been different? What if we had grown up in a Hebraic culture? What if those family patterns weren’t so strong? What if we had married someone else? What if we had lived somewhere else? On and on it goes. Insanity! Trying to reimagine a different past, a better past, a past that is the result of hindsight after we have lived it.
Paul asks the question: “What if some were unfaithful?” ti gar ei epistesan. The answer? So what! It doesn’t affect God’s faithfulness one bit. “What if” doesn’t matter to the God of the eternal covenant. There isn’t any need to remake the past. There is only the necessity of choosing a new future.
When God promises to separate our sins from us as far as the East is from the West, does it matter what those sins were? What if they were really terrible? What if they were really trivial? What if whatever. Does it make a difference? “Yes,” you will reply, “Some things are much more damaging than others. A little lie isn’t like adultery.” Does a little lie invalidate the faithfulness of God? Does adultery? Does anything? What if our sins were dark, what if we felt irredeemable, does that make God’s action on our behalf of no account? Who are you to determine the “what if” scenarios of life?
“I was once destined to become a man much like yourself,” says the old Communist soldier to the investigator. “True hearted, determined, full of purpose. But character is easier kept than recovered. We cannot control the things life does to us. They’re done before you know it, and once they are done, they make you do others things, until at last everything comes between you and the man you wanted to be.”[2]
What were you destined to be? What did life do to you? What choices did you make because of the things that happened that you could not control? This is the reality of your life! Not the regret of what might have been, the recounting of “what if” revisions. This, what you have now, is the reality, and what you do now is the real story. There is never a story that includes rewinds, remakes and alternative endings. That is fantasy, fiction, fable. There is what there is as the result of what has been. None of it undoes what God can do, unless all we do is keep going back to rewrite what might have happened.
Topical Index: what if, ti ei, faithfulness, past, Romans 3:3
[1] Patrick Carnes, Debra Laaser, Mark Laaser, Open Hearts, p. 8.
[2] The International
TRAVEL NOTE: I am in the Philippines for the next few days of teaching. I do not expect to have internet access at all until I get back to the USA on July 12. Just in case you wondered why I am not responding.
What If?
What if there was a city called Bethlehem? What if there was a place called Mt. Calvary? What if the sinless, spotless Son of man (and Son of God) was cruelly, intentionally, willingly beaten, mocked, scourged and then crucified on an instrument of unthinkable torture for you and for me? What if all the disciples forsook Him and fled? What if His blood IS an atonement for our sin? What if He is the Lamb sent from God? What if we were to ask Him for forgiveness? What if He were to forgive us our trespasses and the mountainous debt of sin I owe? What if He were to miraculously make a message out of a mess? What if His words are true and faithful? What if we were to love the LORD our God with all our heart-soul-mind-and strength? What if we were to give our lives in total absolute surrender to the King of kings and LORD of lords? What if we were to confess our sins? What if He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness? What if God were to never leave a surrendered vessel empty? What if the fruit of the Ruach is love -joy – peace – patience – kindness – goodness -faithfulness -humility and self control? What if we were to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?
To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.
Wouldn’t that be marvellous if we could ” keep going back to rewrite what might have happened”!! I WISH!!!
“We cannot control the things life does to us”, nor can we, control what we do, TO life, AT TIMES!!
How about a movie of ourselves that includes retakes, rewinds, remakes and alternative endings?
Perhaps then, we can have a better understanding and appreciation of ourselves?! Hmmmm…
A movie of myself. Wow. I would be so embarrassed about some of those scenes. But maybe it would be a significant lesson. I would hope so.
Hi Kim, we are about remakes, like “before” and “after”! LOL
We get to retake, remake and make changes! Then we can see ourselves truly without
hiding from ourselves. Only we get to view them!!!
Blessings!! Shalom!
:)) Blessings and shalom to you, Ester!
Hello Readers and Sojourners,
These questions from Today’s Word, Friday 07/08, hit home for me. Especially, paraphrasing, what choices do you make as a result of life events happening outside your control?
Excuses don’t necessarily make the choice to let a “dark sin” have its way in one’s life okay or understandable to YHVH. Comfort and a restart are often found for me in Psalm 1, Psalm 40 and Psalm 51 in particular. The present is all we have and may YHVH help us make life choices that honor Him! May our choices not be made to just rid our pain and suffering. In situations like that, sin may often have its way with us!
David R
“There isn’t any need to remake the past. There is only the necessity of choosing a new future.”
I think one big issue as to why we play the “what if” game is that we have lost the Hebraic understanding of repentance. To repent is so much more than just an apology or a prayer; repentance seeks to make things right. I believe our conscience doesn’t allow us to move on and choose a new future as long as we ignore the IMPACT that the past has on that future. The commands in Torah regarding sin always include restitution. Zakkai, when called down from the tree by Yeshua answered, “Lord, I am giving half of all I own to the poor; and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay him back four times as much”! The reason we pine over our past is we refuse to truly move on from it. We ask YHVH “Forgive me” but we so often don’t do anything to fix what our sin has damaged. “What if” I never made that mistake does nothing to correct the course. “What should I do now” is the question we must ask.
You cannot carve a new future while the past is still in control of your present.
I so agree!
Dr. Scott Simmerman phrased it. Insanity is expecting thngs to change while we continue doing the same things.
Yeshau saved the lost sheep, the apostles finalized this. So the saving kind part must be gone. The cruel reality is we have Moses and the prophets and they only testify of Yeshua.
When we do His will we only testify of His salvation… what more can humans biblically do…
I find this movement The Hebraic movement, interesting. This word “Hebraic”, a very Christian word, why not the real source , my Jewishness , my Jewish Heritage , or Judaism . If you wanted to pick and choose like all movements from history. Reading a interesting book on this topic , it appears things don’t really change.. In his book on “Hillel”, Rabbi Telushkin’s, book “Hillel: If Not Now, When? “, his examination of the world-view that was Hillel’s begins and ends with the issue of conversion. Basing himself on the famous three rabbinic narratives about Hillel, Shammai, and prospective converts ” .
Why not try something first, the real deal, attend and observe before forming an ————— a confabulation, live it , be it, experience it.. at least or three years . Then have a conversation, take a risk and be with the people and culture, the language .. Things don’t really change like in the times of Hillel and Shammai , or religions in history, and now, we just don’t seem to get along with difference, or being a student. B’H…
Shalom CW,
If I may …. Hebraic ‘movement’ is not the same as Hebrew roots movement.
Hebraic relates to or characteristic of the Hebrews, a crossing-over, an accepting of an active upholding of a standard, NOT of a physical descent.
Abraham’s patriarchy is one of doing; an activity much more fundamental than any particular conviction. Abraham was the first to be called Hebrew, having separated from the other nations morally and spiritually.
The terms “Jew” and “Judaism” come from the tribe or kingdom of Judah.
“Jew” now refers to all physical and spiritual descendants of Jacob, the word Yehudi/ ‘Jews’ could properly be used to describe anyone from the kingdom of Judah, which included the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi, as well as scattered settlements from other tribes.
Generally, “Jew” is used to refer to all of the physical and spiritual descendants of Jacob/Israel, as well as to the patriarchs Abraham and Isaac and their wives.
“Judaism” is used to refer to their beliefs. We are not into Judaism, we are digging in to the paradigm of Hebraic cultural , and lingustic mindset. :- )
Shalom!
Read this too , very interesting-
”
So Hebrew means the one who is opposed, on the other side, and different from all others. Abraham was a solitary believer in a sea of idolatry.
Perhaps this is why the second person to be called a Hebrew is Joseph.4 A nice Hebrew boy ends up in Egypt, the decadent land of the Pharaohs, where people and the celestial spheres are worshipped instead of G‑d; a lone teenager with outlandish Hebrew beliefs from the far side, in the strongest society of his day. Joseph did not cave in to the pressures.” chabad.org
I don’t live in the past anymore. AA promises, …”We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will know a new freedom and a new happiness.” Sorry Bill W and Dr. Bob, but I would rephrase to say we will not dwell in the past because we have learned from it. Everything about my life had failure written on it. Still does if I judge myself by the world’s standards. I don’t for the most part even though it is hard at times to not get caught up in this world especially when experiencing insecurity. YHVH delivered me. Every day now I experience gratitude and that peace that passes all understanding. Different but still the same. Shalom to all.
John often mentioned a quote when talking to his clients. Can’t remember the author, but it goes like this…
“No matter how hard I pray, I can’t seem to change the outcome of yesterday.” :-))
The Present: The Gift of Today
Today is tomorrow’s yesterday!! What I do with today will affect my tomorrow. Our choices today will be tomorrow’s consequences. Good or bad, beautiful or ugly, I am today the sum total of all the choices I have ever made. I will say of today, (the gift of the present), “This is the day which the LORD has made, (therefore) I will rejoice and be glad in it.”
And for many, who are today experiencing the trials and testings of this life, for those who are weary and are heavy laden, for those who are burned out or burdened with the weight of the world, there is a Savior who is waiting.. there is a Friend who is near, there is a Redeemer and a Rock, a firm foundation for us to build our lives upon. One who is both Faithful and True, and One who is both willing and able to provide all our needs. One who is both the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith. One who is our Peace. One who is the Truth, the Way and the Life. One who opens His hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing. One who, in large measure, still today remains despised and rejected by man. One whose disciples referred to as LORD. One who has been defined and declared King of kings and LORD of lords. One who is Head of all things, and by whom all things exist. One to whom every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess as LORD.
Is He? Selah. He is.
~ The stone which the builders have rejected has become the chief corner stone.
Great post Skip!
I do reflect on where I’ve come from but, only in amazement as to what HaShem has done. His mercy, grace, compassion, and faithfulness. However, the “what’s if’s” is a ridiculous thing to dwell on. Nothing we do can change what has happened.
And bless the Lord! He has given me another day of life!
Amein! Well said Mark! I would emphatically say the same! HalleluYAH!
Shalom, shalom!
Ok.
And the woman I wanted to be. True-hearted —-Yes, I think I was as a young girl and as a teenager. But life began to run contrary to my true self. I found myself doing or trying to be what I was not. Asking God for relief, but not finding any. Wanting and asking for those things I believe were unselfish but not receiving. I saw things in black and white. Good people vs bad people. Of course I was one of the “good” people. Then life happened. Bad choices. Gray appeared. Lines were blurred. I was inexorably on a collision course that led to destructive behavior to myself and others. Rebellion.
Life is different now. God is sovereign. He’s my North Star. Hallelujah.
I’m ok with the gray. Questions from my youth still lurking but not needing the answers anymore.
I’m okay with the past. The what ifs rarely. One day at a time. What a concept.
For the rest of my life may I live pleasing to Him. Glorifying Him. How do I introduce this God I now know to family, friends, strangers and all those people I meet? This wonderful glorious loving compassionate Father. How to walk this out in thought, word and deed??
I believe that the What if are somehow necessary if we learn how to use them in order to choose a better future.
Good point, Benny. Thanks.
As the old Mennen Skin Bracer commercial used to say, “Thanks! I needed that.” (After a slap in the face.). Thanks Skip. This is one TW that I will mark and re-read occasionally, as my thoughts have a tendency at times to drift into the “what if’s”. A timely reminder!
“For all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, ‘It might have been’.”
John Greenleaf Whittier
What might have been!
Lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For afterward when he would have received the blessing he was rejected though he sought it carefully with tears.
Jesus weeping over Jerusalem. “How often I would have gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks but you would not.” They knew not the time of their visitation.
The scripture is full of “what if’s” I believe to warn us not to fall into the same abyss. THANK YOU LORD FOR THE WARNINGS.
PROFANITY OF LIP – TREATING LIGHTLY THE NAME OF GOD
PROFANITY OF LIFE – TREATING LIGHTLY THE THINGS OF GOD – (THE BIRTHRIGHT – BLESSING)
The counter response to ‘what if’ would be what my late pastor Rick used to say, ‘It doesn’t matter’…I wonder if there is a scriptural expression for this?