I find myself lately visiting a location that may not be altogether healthy. I call it “What If Land.” You may have been there before. Many people like to visit there from time to time. It’s a place where the imagination can run wild and can provide you with ideas that range from the hopeful to the downright silly. “What if I could actually fly like Superman?” “What if I really could dive into a pool filled with nothing but Jello?” “What if I could get out of debt and support a worthwhile ministry?”
Not all of the ideas that are visited in “What If Land” are good for us, however. Unfortunately, with many places, there are dangerous dark alleys and locations that in the old days might have been called “the wrong side of the tracks.” It is here where we find regrets and shame. “What if I had NOT done this…,” or “What if I had done this differently….” are places we visit, but can do nothing about. In fact, almost all of the scenes that play out in these dank spots will deal with past issues that we wish we could change. There is no hope in that. Some people will carry dread into future scenarios of “What if I die?” or “What if something tragic happens?” These things come to them in the slums of “What If Land.”
The scenic locations are filled with hope because very rarely, when a situation turns positive, do we go back and wish for different results. Why change something that brings joy and happiness? We like to dream the silly, because it lightens our mood or helps us escape the stress of life. We dream big because hope is a much more efficient and stable fuel than regret or worry. A really positive single moment in life can keep us flying high for days at a time, whereas a moment of pain can make us feel like we’re dragging a train behind us. It exhausts us mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically to try and move forward with shame as our power source.
The only thing we can really do from bad experiences of the past is to heal from them, try and learn from those mistakes, and move forward--doing all we can to avoid the same mistakes again. Wishing we could change what has already happened is hopeless. It’s impossible. But, “What if I steer clear of this mistake…” is a way to inspire us to do better and to get it right next time.
I have visited my fair share of dark alleys in “What If Land.” I don’t like it there. If I were to be completely honest, I spent a couple of hours there this morning in the way I handled a situation with my children. BUT, What if I go home and spend some time just loving on them and giving them my attention and affection? What if we wrestled on the floor and they laughed so hard they got the hiccups? These are much better tourist attractions in the land of “What If” than where I was earlier.
In fact, is it possible to become the mayor of our own individual “What If Land,” and do some major street-cleaning, and finally rid ourselves of living in the past? If God can remove our sins “...as far as the east is from the west…” (Psalm 103:12), can He not use that same power to point us forward? In fact, if He’s removed it from us, and we keep taking it up ourselves, aren’t we doing it our way and not God’s way, making it sinful? Hebrews 12:1-2 encourages us to “...throw off the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…” How many races do you win by running backwards? We are meant to move forward, free from the burdens of the past, but wise from the lessons of the past.
Which “What If” are you clinging to today? Is it the prime spot with a four-star hotel overlooking the sea of opportunity? Or...well, you know. Don’t waste time in the dark spots. Fuel your jets with hope and inspire yourself of the world of possibilities that await us when we move forward towards Jesus.
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