What if vs What is

Intro

What do you want? (emphasize the profound nature of this question)

What is it you truly want?

Why do we want?

Typically, w want because we believe there is a lack thereof.

We want because we think we lack something.

Psalm 23:1 (ESV)

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Psalm 23:1 (NIV)

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

We want because we think we lack something.

Wanting can be dangerous because if we’re not careful they lead to worry & anxiety.

The problem is: I don’t live like I actually believe this to be true. Do you believe it? Or maybe a better question, do you live like you lack nothing?

Just for a moment, imagine if you truly lacked nothing. If you lacked no thing and had no want in your life, what would that feel like? Would you worry? Would you stress? Would you be anxious?

But we do worry. We do stress. We are anxious. We don’t live our lives as if we lack nothing. We live our lives as if we lack a lot of things and we are determined to get them. So we worry. We worry about a lot of things that are good. We worry about our grades. We worry about our health. We worry about money and the economy. We worry about our jobs. We worry about relationships.

If worry stayed put in our lives it might not be such an issue. But worry doesn’t stay put, it grows and builds and often it creates worry about worry.

Here is the trouble with worry: Worry builds a “what if” house.

What if I don’t pass this course

What if we don’t get married

What if I don’t get the internship

What if I don’t make enough money over summer

What if I get injured

Rumination:

Rumination involves repetitive thinking or dwelling on negative feelings and distress and their causes and consequences. The repetitive, negative aspect of rumination can contribute to the development of depression or anxiety and can worsen existing conditions.

American Psychiatric Association

I find myself building a what if house:

CHAT?

Zae?

Finances in PhD

Churchplant?

The problem with it:

1) It’s not true

2) It’s confining & restrictive

So what’s the solution? What do we do? We have to focus on WHAT IS true.

Psalm 23:1 ESV

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Psalm 23:1 NIV

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

Psalm 23:1 NLT

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.

I shall not want; because I have all that I need; with Christ as my Shepherd.

Can you say the same?

This is what Paul says:

Philippians 4:11 ESV

11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

Philippians 3:8 ESV

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

Anxiety and worry stem from a disbelief in that Jesus is not enough.

I have anxiety and stress in my life because there are moments that I struggle to believe and to remember who He is.

But He is our Shepherd.

Psalm 23:1 (ESV)

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

What does Him being Shepherd mean? And how does that impact our worry and anxiety?

LORD - all caps - roughly translates the one who is and will be, or “I AM.”

lower case - Lord = lord, master, king, ruler, etc. LORD = Yahweh = “The one who is and will be.”

Here is the significance of this. The One Who is and will be, the One Who has always existed, the One Who will never not exist, the One Who created space and time but time and space cannot contain, the One Who spoke all of creation into being, the eternal, all powerful God, is my shepherd.

Let me tell you about a shepherd. A shepherd is not a disconnected ruler. A shepherd is with the sheep. Shepherds know their sheep and provide constant care for their flock. They offer protection and provision, and lead the sheep to areas that are best for the sheep. In the days of the Ancient Near East, when much of the Old Testament was written, shepherds would spend a majority of their life with their sheep. They provided constant care for the sheep. In the morning, leading them to find places to eat, fight off predators throughout the day, and at night sleeping in front of the sheep pen to keep the sheep in and to keep predators out

John 10:14 ESV

14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,

Ezekiel 34:11–12 ESV

11 “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.

Luke 15:4–5 ESV

4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

Isaiah 40:11 ESV

11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

Even when our circumstances are hard - difficult

Psalm 23:4 ESV

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Matthew 4:1 ESV

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Hebrews 13:5 ESV

5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

If that IS true; then we need build our life on this truth.

When we do it’s like Matthew 7:24-27

Matthew 7:24–27 ESV

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Action:

Give your what if’s to God in prayer

Praise and thank Him for what is true.