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You’re probably like me in that this past week you were watching the pathway of Hurricane Dorian.  It seemed that every meteorologist had his own predictions--if it speeds up, if it moves 10 degrees west, if it makes landfall between…  And don’t get me started on the spaghetti models! Then there were those who living in areas under mandatory evacuation wondering if they should believe the radio or the local news channel on the best times to leave and which route to take.  Some wondered if they should leave given the forecasts have been wrong in recent history. In our area, 200 miles from the coast, we experienced our own set of if’s! We wondered if we should prepare for hurricane, and to what degree--just bread and water?  We wondered if we might need to buy a generator, if we should gas up our cars!   

The if’s have been rampant this week.  If’s are stressful. I find that one if leads to another, and then another, but each one is still an unknown.  It’s hard to make firm decisions when more is unknown than known. Think about it, tomorrow is also unknown. Ten minutes from now is unknown.  We have plans, but the future is unknown. How can we cope?

Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"  (John 11:40) With all of the unknowns there’s one thing we can know for certain. We can know how we will spend eternity.  Eternity is a long, unknown, but infinite, amount of time. I choose to spend my eternity with God. I choose to believe in Him, that I should allow Him to guide my way here on earth.  I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but I know He holds tomorrow just like He holds today.   
 
What does it mean to believe in God?  Christians believe in the Triune God, God as three Persons, the Trinity.  God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, and God the Son, who we know as Jesus Christ, was born to the virgin Mary, as God in human form.  Jesus lived on earth experiencing life as men and women do, except without sin. He taught us how to relate to one another in love. Jesus gave up His life on the cross, dying as the sacrificial lamb for the sins of man.   His death means that we don’t have to die for our sins. If we believe in Him, our sins are forgiven.  When we physically die, we will continue to live, in spirit, in heaven with God.  Three days after Jesus’ death on the cross, He was raised from the dead as proof of God’s amazing power.  

Do you believe?  Are you plagued by the if’s of life, or will you make the decision that makes your eternity certain?  Our belief means that we surrender our will to Him, that rather than working to make our own plans, that we accept and surrender to His plans.  His plans are always good. God is the Creator of the universe, and He said that it was good. As our Creator, He has our best interest at heart and we can trust that His plans are good.  It may not always seem like it, but “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9) Believing in Him means that we will trust Him and be obedient to His will.   As we continue to live here on hear, with new if’s everyday, we must learn to heed the words of Proverbs 3:5. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him  and he will make your paths straight.”  




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AMEN!  
I see that relief organizations are now headed to the Bahamas.  Many of their if’s will be relieved. Let’s continue to pray for them and contribute what we can to aid in their recovery.  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Have a blessed week everyone!
Kim