Devotional: What If…. by Bosede Santos

Brothers and sisters, continue to think about what is good and worthy of praise. Think about what is true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected. And do what you learned and received from me—what I told you and what you saw me do. And the God who gives peace will be with you.Phil. 4:8,9ERV

The saying goes, “life is not a bed of roses.” And I get what that means. But I say, life is, because roses have thorns. Depending on how they are handled, one could get pricked again and again.

In life, challenges and disruptions are inevitable and not one person is immune. Satan hasn’t stopped his bid to discredit God at every opportunity. He went after humanity in the Garden and has not yet stopped. Everyone should have put their faith in Jesus had he quit his antics.

These unwelcome interruptions make us sceptical and cowardly. They make us think up myriads of ‘what if’ scenarios. “What if it doesn’t work out?” “What if I don’t do well?” “What if they find out I’m not all that …?” The possible speculations are endless, and they stifle potentials and cripple people from moving into their destinies.

But what if we changed the narrative. Rather than default to negative thoughts, we choose to side up with God, who through Paul’s charge to the Philippians (4:8,9), prescribes what thoughts we should allow to take up residence in our hearts.

In another scripture (Is. 1:19), we hear about the reward of those who are willing and obedient to the commands of our Father. God said they will get the good things of the land He has given them.

Relentlessly obedient

Darrin Donnelly, known for his advocacy of positive thinking has this to say. “It’s important to recognize that positive thinking is NOT the idea that you’ll never encounter any obstacles as long as you stay positive. Instead, positive thinking is all about how you respond to the obstacles you will most certainly encounter.” In his book, Relentless Optimism: How a Commitment to Positive Thinking Changes Everything, he wrote, “the people who succeed aren’t the ones who avoid failure; they’re the ones who learn how to respond to failure with optimism.

Friend, beyond mere optimism and the sheer grit to stay positive, when we turn our thoughts to the promises God has made in His word, and believe Him, we can find the anchor for our thoughts. It still boils down to ‘as a man thinks in his heart, so is he’. We attract what we focus on. What is making you to hold back on stepping into those dreams in your heart? Change the outcomes playing on repeat in your mind. Believe God and you will eat the good of the land of those dreams.

YOUR RESPONSE

• Do an honest assessment of your default pattern of thinking. Philippians 4:8,9 mindset or otherwise?
• Get God’s promised outcome on your dreams, write out your faith response to these promises and begin to declare them into your future.

Prayer:

Father, I repent of the times I allowed myself to believe lies, inadvertently cutting myself short of what I could have accomplished in You.I thank you for giving me the solution out of Your word. I choose to believe You knowing You will back me up and grant me success in all I do. I thank You my Father, for Your promises are yes and amen. In Jesus’ Name. Amen