What If…

I’ve been wrestling with some thoughts lately, thoughts that seem to go against the norm of the Christian culture, thoughts that challenge me and stretch me to the core.  Perhaps these thoughts that have been swirling in my brain will challenge you in your walk?  Maybe they’ll further you towards Christ as well?

Let me start here.  Since God has called me to the field of ministry where one writes, I often hear in this type of ministry that one should find their voice or use their voice.  At first I kinda scratched my head about that concept not quite knowing what the so-called experts were talking about, but then I figured it out.

Here’s what it means in case you didn’t know either: basically when you write something you should use your personality; you should be you.  Hence, that’s your voice.  It’s a simple concept, I know.  But hey I’m kinda slow!

There’s nothing wrong with that thought process, it’s just that for me it goes against my spirit.

Here’s what I mean.

What if instead of trying to find my voice or use my voice, I seek to use His voice when I write?  Would the words that are typed out on this screen be different?  More useful?

How about these thoughts….

What if in ministry we make the choice to rely on the Lord’s strength rather than our own?

What if we served others in such a way that there is more of Him and less of us?

What if we made the effort to pour into the lives of others rather than expecting them to pour into us?

What if we fully surrender our lives to Christ with a reckless abandonment?

What if we actually counted it all joy when we faced various trials rather than thrown ourselves a pity party?

What if we whole-heartedly believed that all things would work together for our good even when we’re in a difficult situation?

What if we really treated our money and possessions as if they truly belonged to the Lord?

What if we chose to make life all about Christ rather than all about us?

What if we woke every morning with the thought,  “Not my will Lord, but Yours be done today?

What if we were the type of wife that respected and submitted to our husband even if our man did not love us the way Christ loves the church?

What if in our singleness we were content with Christ being our Bridegroom rather than longing for an earthly groom?

What if we were so intentional about lifting Christ up for all to see rather than lifting ourselves up?

Would our lives look different if we did these things?  Would these things make an impact?

What if we kept doing these things until the whole earth hears?

Would the world see more of Him and less of us?

Would we make a greater impact for the Kingdom of God if we were deliberate in these pursuits?  Would a non-believer be drawn to the Cross based on how we lived?  Would the wounded, weary and weaker believer be encouraged by our lives and thus cause them to desire a deeper devotion with Christ?

I know nothing on this list is easy to tackle because we’d have to die to ourselves in the process, but what if in just some small way, we chose to lay down our lives for the sake of the Gospel?

Would we gain more joy, peace and the fullness of Christ in this process?  I believe so.

But would there be a cost to doing these things? Of course, there’s always a price to pay.

I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.  Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him.  Philippians 3:7-9