What if…?

25 Aug What if…?

25 August 2026

What if…? It’s how many of life’s questions begin. “What if I’d joined the army instead of going to uni? What if I’d married that other person instead of this one? What if we hadn’t bought that piece of property when we did? What if the ambulance would have been a few seconds slower? What if the wind had changed during the bushfire? We can do this all day from the real circumstances in our lives…What if…?

Psalm 124 in some translations begins with a HUGE “What if…?” “What if the Lord had not been on our side?” The psalmist ponders the outcome of the life of God’s people under the “What if” of God’s absence. “Let all Israel repeat: What if the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us?” What a question! What would have happened when life went pear-shaped, when we were under grave threat, when our future looked bleak…if God had not had his hand on us? …if we were not under God’s special care & protection? …if we were not loved & chosen by God for his purposes & his glory?

It’s more than a rhetorical question…the Psalmist provides his own answer: “They would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger. The waters would have engulfed us; a torrent would have overwhelmed us. Yes, the raging waters of their fury would have overwhelmed our very lives.” Human life under the “What if” of God’s absence is that we are easily devastated, crushed, overpowered…in a word; dead. But for us who are claimed by God’s love & anchored firmly in his promises…“Praise the Lord, who did not let their teeth tear us apart! We escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap. The trap is broken, & we are free! Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven & earth.”

It’s true…we are embraced by God’s presence daily, his provision in abundance, & the lavishness of every promise from now until eternity…but what about those for whom that “What if” is a daily reality? What about those who don’t know God’s peace in their struggles, his comfort in their grief, his hope in their despondency, his love at all? Go back to the Psalm… Human life under the “What if” of God’s absence is that we are easily devastated, crushed, overpowered…in a word; dead. Not just the neighbour I don’t know, but the one I do. The family member who walked away from trusting Christ. The work colleague or classmate who seems uninterested. That “What if” for them has eternal consequences just as it does for us…but their eternity will be bleak not joyous. Now…the real “What if.” What if you prayed for God’s wisdom & then invited them to talk about that? What if we were each intentional about offering to someone else that assurance & strength the Psalmist claims & we each trust daily?

Now some opportunities learn to do that in our life together…

• Wednesday August 26^th – Caloola Court Devotions – 10:30 a.m.
• Sunday August 30^th – we continue our worship & teaching series on Joshua – Learning to be Different. We’re nearing the end of our series…this week is going to be awesome because we get a close look at my personal Biblical hero, Caleb. One of the two who were faithful to Yahweh from the Exodus on…Becoming the people God calls us to be is always a process of learning to be His in the varied & shifting circumstances of life. God is always the architect of our days no matter the challenges & changes within them. Join us as we learn to be different under the joyous shaping of God’s hand on our lives.
• Please get your September 2026 calendar dates to Sue ASAP…she’ll have the finished product Sunday!
• And a few in the “Claim the Date” file:
  • Tuesday 8^th September – feeding the CSU UniChurch students! Details will come closer to the date.
  • Saturday 12^th September – LWF Prayer Morning @ the Guilfoyle home – 10:00 a.m.
  • Sunday 27^th September – Annual InterSport Lake-to-Lake Run-n-Ride – Worship begins at 12:00 noon with lunch in the Guide Hall

God bless you with his peace!

John