The Big Question…. What If?!? 🤔❤️
The Big Question…
What If?!? 🤔❤️
What happens when the fear of repeating your past tries to interfere with the promises of your future?
Hey, Friends and Family!
Let’s dive into this BIG topic today! I truly pray that by the time you finish reading 📖 this blog, something will stir within your heart and remind you that your future does not have to look like your past.
Because today, we’re talking about two little words that can create some BIG questions.
WHAT IF?!?
Y’all, have you ever had a conversation with yourself that started with one simple question and somehow turned into a full-blown investigation of your entire life?!? 😂
Well, here we go!
A Little Conversation With Myself ❤️
As I was driving to work, I began thinking about my life and just how far I have come over the past several years.
And let me tell you something!
I truly praise God that I am not where I used to be!
And where I am right now?
It’s looking pretty amazing! ❤️
Is everything perfect?
Absolutely not!
Do I still have doubts at times?
Of course I do!
Have I been through some things?
BABY!!! 😳
If I started telling you everything I have experienced throughout my lifetime, we would probably need an entire library! 📚
And I’m not talking about one little bookshelf either!
I’m talking about shelves, floors, and maybe even a whole separate building! 😂
But through it all, God has been faithful.
He has carried me through disappointments, heartaches, unexpected endings, and seasons I never imagined I would have to walk through.
And yet…
Here I am.
Still standing.
Still believing.
Still trusting.
Still expecting God to do something amazing with the rest of my life.
But can I tell you something?
Sometimes, those very experiences that taught us valuable lessons can also make us hesitant to embrace whatever God has next.
Now, you might be asking…
“Lauretta, how can you say your future looks amazing, but you’re hesitant about embracing it?”
Good question!
Sounds a little confusing, doesn’t it? 🫤
Well, let me explain.
I Don’t Have Time to Waste! ⏳
Let me be perfectly honest with you.
I don’t want to waste absolutely ANY MORE TIME on things that don’t matter!
If it doesn’t add value to my life…
KEEP IT!
If it doesn’t have purpose…
YOU CAN KEEP IT!
If it’s not going in the direction God has for my life…
I DON’T WANT IT!
If it doesn’t align with God’s purpose for me…
PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE!
I DON’T WANT IT! 😂
And I’m not saying this out of bitterness, anger, or resentment.
I’m saying it because I have reached a place in my life where I understand that my time is valuable, my peace is precious, and my purpose is too important to keep investing in things that lead nowhere.
Whew!
Somebody needed that!
Maybe it was me! 😳
When Life Makes You Ask the Hard Questions
I realized that it had been a while since I had a truly honest conversation with myself.
You know the kind I’m talking about.
An eye-opening moment.
A moment of self-reflection.
A heartfelt, truthful conversation between you and God.
The kind where you stop pretending everything is fine and begin asking yourself some serious questions.
And sometimes, those moments show up out of NOWHERE!
They come knocking on your forehead like…
THUMP! 👀
“HELLO?!?”
“CAN WE TALK?!?”
And before you know it, two little words appear.
WHAT IF?!?
What if I make another mistake?
What if I trust the wrong person?
What if I misunderstand what God is doing?
What if I make another decision that costs me years of my life?
What if I open my heart again and end up disappointed?
What if?!?
And just like that, those two little words can turn a peaceful morning drive into a serious conversation with yourself!
Thirty-One Years Is a Long Time!
Blogger Friends, as I get older, I am realizing something that I wish I had fully understood years ago.
Time is something we can spend, but we can never get back.
Let me say that again!
We can spend our time, but we cannot get it back!
As I look back over 31 years of marriage, which is a LONG time in my book, I recognize that my marriage ended in divorce.
Thirty-one years!
That’s a whole lot of living, loving, learning, sacrificing, hoping, believing, and building a life with someone.
And when something you invested so much of your life into comes to an end, it can make you question many things.
Not just what happened.
But what happens NEXT?
Because, let’s be honest…
I cannot afford to spend another 31 years heading toward another disaster!
And who says I even have another 31 years to spend?
Only God knows the number of our days.
Now, please understand something.
I am not saying that every moment of those 31 years was wasted.
Absolutely not!
There were blessings, beautiful memories, lessons learned, and precious gifts that came from that season of my life.
But I am saying that I do not want to repeat painful patterns simply because I failed to recognize what God was trying to teach me.
There comes a time when we must learn from yesterday without allowing yesterday to control tomorrow.
And that, my friends, is where the BIG question begins!
What Really Matters Now? ❤️
At this stage of my life, I want to cherish what truly matters.
Time — because every moment is precious.
Energy — because I cannot keep pouring myself into things that leave me empty.
Love and joy — because I want to experience the beautiful things God has for me.
Family — because the people we love are gifts that should never be taken for granted.
Peace and happiness — because I have learned that not everything deserves access to my peace.
Salvation and my relationship with God — because without Him, nothing else truly matters.
And most importantly…
I want to walk in the purpose God created me to fulfill.
Not somebody else’s expectations.
Not somebody else’s timeline.
Not somebody else’s definition of success.
GOD’S PURPOSE FOR MY LIFE!
But What If I Mess Up Again?!? 😳
Now, back to that morning drive!
As I continued driving to work and thinking about my future, those questions began showing up.
What if I mess up like before?
What if I make the same mistake?
What if I don’t do things perfectly?
What if I don’t measure up to somebody else’s standards? 📏
What if they become disappointed in me?
What if I give my best and it still ends in disaster?
What if I make the wrong decision?
WHAT IF?!?
Y’all!
Do you see how quickly those questions can multiply?
One question turns into two.
Two turns into five.
Five turns into ten.
And before you know it, you have created an entire future in your imagination that hasn’t even happened!
OH, MY GOODNESS! 😳
We can become so afraid of what MIGHT happen that we stop ourselves from experiencing what God MAY have prepared for us.
And that’s when something powerful came to my mind.
Then Came the Scripture! 📖
Proverbs 3:5–6 (KJV)
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
WAIT A MINUTE!!! 😳
Did you catch that?
TRUST IN THE LORD!
With how much of your heart?
ALL OF IT!
Not some of it.
Not the comfortable parts.
Not just the parts that haven’t been disappointed.
Not just the parts that are easy to surrender.
ALL OF IT!
Now, this was a HUGE check in my spirit!
Because here I was, asking God all these WHAT IF questions, and the Scripture was reminding me of something I already knew.
TRUST HIM!
Trust Him with my heart.
Trust Him with my future.
Trust Him with my decisions.
Trust Him with the things I understand.
And trust Him with the things I DON’T understand!
WHEW!!! ❤️
The What Ifs Are Not Mine to Carry Alone!
Then another thought came to me.
If I am truly trusting God, why am I trying to figure out every possible outcome before taking another step?
Why am I allowing yesterday’s disappointments to become tomorrow’s expectations?
Why am I asking God to direct my path while simultaneously trying to control every turn?
HELLO?!? 😳
Can somebody help me with this one?
Because sometimes we say we trust God, but our minds are busy preparing for every possible disaster!
And the truth is…
Trusting God does not mean we will never face another disappointment. It means we believe He will guide us and remain faithful, regardless of what comes our way.
Trust does not eliminate the need for wisdom.
Trust does not mean ignoring warning signs.
Trust does not mean repeating unhealthy patterns and hoping for a different outcome.
It means we take what we have learned, seek God’s wisdom, make prayerful decisions, and refuse to let fear become the author of our future.
Now THAT is something worth thinking about!
God Will Direct My Steps! 👣
Then another Scripture came to mind.
Psalm 37:23 (KJV)
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.”
Do you see the connection?
Proverbs tells us to trust God and acknowledge Him.
Psalms reminds us that He orders our steps.
So let me break this down!
My responsibility:
TRUST in the Lord.
Trust Him with my WHOLE heart.
LEAN NOT on my own understanding.
ACKNOWLEDGE Him in ALL my ways.
Seek His wisdom.
Listen for His direction.
Walk in obedience.
God’s promise:
HE SHALL DIRECT MY PATHS!
Not necessarily reveal the entire journey.
Not promise that every road will be easy.
Not guarantee that I will never experience another disappointment.
But DIRECT MY PATHS!
And that means I don’t have to know everything about tomorrow to trust the One who holds tomorrow.
Oh, I LOVE THAT! ❤️
So What Do I Do With the What Ifs?!?
GET RID OF THEM!
Well, let me explain that a little better. 😂
Because asking questions is not necessarily wrong.
Sometimes questions help us grow, think wisely, and make better decisions.
But when those questions become rooted in fear instead of faith, we must challenge them with the Word of God!
Instead of asking…
“What if I fail?”
Ask…
“What if God gives me the wisdom to succeed?”
Instead of…
“What if I make another mistake?”
Ask…
“What if the lessons from my past have prepared me to make a wiser decision?”
Instead of…
“What if somebody disappoints me again?”
Ask…
“What if God has taught me how to recognize what is healthy, purposeful, and right for my life?”
Instead of…
“What if I am not good enough?”
Ask…
“What if God has already equipped me for what He is calling me to do?”
And instead of…
“What if my future turns out like my past?”
Ask…
“WHAT IF GOD HAS SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL AHEAD THAT I HAVEN’T EVEN IMAGINED YET?!?” ❤️
Now, THAT’S the kind of WHAT IF I want to entertain!
Because sometimes the problem isn’t the question.
It’s the fear behind the question!
Don’t Let Your Past Make Decisions for Your Future
Friends and Family, I want to encourage somebody today.
You may have experienced a painful divorce.
You may have lost a relationship.
You may have invested years into something that didn’t turn out the way you expected.
You may have experienced rejection, disappointment, betrayal, or an unexpected ending.
And now, when something new begins to appear on the horizon, your first response is…
WHAT IF?!?
What if it happens again?
What if I get hurt?
What if I lose everything?
But what if God is inviting you to move forward with wisdom instead of fear?
What if those difficult experiences were not the end of your story?
What if you have learned more than you realize?
What if the very season that almost broke your confidence has taught you how to recognize your worth?
And what if the next chapter of your life requires you to stop looking backward long enough to see the path God is placing before you?
Isaiah 43:19 (KJV)
“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”
A NEW THING!
Not necessarily a repeat of the old thing!
A NEW THING!
And sometimes, to embrace something new, we must stop expecting everything to end the way it did before.
❤️ My Aha Moment: What If?!?
Here is what I realized during that drive to work.
I have spent enough time learning from what happened yesterday. I don’t need to spend tomorrow being afraid that yesterday will happen again.
WOW!
Think about that for a moment.
I cannot change those 31 years.
I cannot go backward and rewrite every decision.
I cannot recover every moment that has passed.
But I CAN take the wisdom, the lessons, the growth, and the strength God has given me and move forward.
And you can too!
The past may have taught us valuable lessons, but it does not have the authority to determine every chapter of our future.
The same God who brought me THROUGH yesterday is the same God I am trusting to lead me INTO tomorrow!
So, the next time those two little words show up…
WHAT IF?!?
I’m going to answer them differently.
WHAT IF I TRUST GOD?!?
What if I stop allowing fear to make decisions for me?
What if I stop measuring my future by the disappointments of my past?
What if I embrace the wisdom God has given me?
What if I acknowledge Him in everything I do?
What if I simply take the next step in faith?
And what if the best chapters of my life are still waiting to be written?
Now THAT is a BIG question worth asking! ❤️
One Last Thought…
Friends, don’t become so consumed with what might go wrong that you forget what God can make right.
You have already survived things you once thought you couldn’t endure.
You have already walked through seasons you never imagined facing.
And look at you!
YOU’RE STILL HERE!
Still growing.
Still learning.
Still believing.
And still carrying purpose!
So don’t waste the precious moments ahead trying to relive or repair every moment behind you.
Learn from it.
Grow through it.
Give it to God.
And KEEP WALKING! 👣
Because your future deserves the wisdom you gained from your past, not the fear that came with it.
FINAL AHA MOMENT! 💡❤️
“What if the greatest mistake we make isn’t what happened in our past, but allowing the fear of repeating it to keep us from walking into the future God has prepared for us?”
WHAT IF?!?
Well…
WHAT IF WE JUST TRUST GOD?!? 🙏❤️
Until next time, my Blogger Friends!
Keep trusting, keep believing, and keep walking in faith!
Written by Lauretta Scott
ipublishub-Books
Publishing with Purpose & Faith.
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