What If?

What if…

  He stopped it today?

What if…

  The COVID 19 virus died. Everywhere.

Around the world. Immediately.

    Hurricanes and tornados ceased to spin.

What if...

There was no more contagion..

     No more illness

        No more devastating winds or torrential rains.

They disappeared.        

Life returned to the day before the first viral

agent stirred to action

and the tornadic funnels spun into being.

  People still died…of other causes.

    Money was still lost…for other reasons.

      People were still greedy…

but toilet paper reappeared.

        Americans were still fearful…from other triggers.

But…

  The stock market rebounded.

      Sports resumed.

        Schools opened.

          Bars, restaurants, cruises and Disney World welcomed the masses once again.

The unthinkable threat to the American way of life was removed.

                  Instantly.

                                By the God Who brought it.

Whew. Glad that’s over. Thanks, God. Appreciate it. Now. Back to normal.

Of course…normal is…

  “Three dollars’ worth of God.”

      Not enough to make my life uncomfortable…

        Or require serious prayer…

          Or need in-depth Bible study…

            Or expect me to share the Gospel…

              Or sacrificially love my neighbor…

                Or willingly serve my church.

“Normal” is

    I have rights…

      I have needs…

        I have desires…

          I have wants…

                It’s God’s job to fix it.

“Normal” is…

    I’ll take three dollars’ worth of God…

      And give Him one dollar’ worth of me.

        After all…God is Love.

          Who is He to judge?

What if…

  God has had enough?

What if…

  God yearns for His stubborn, rebellious, idolatrous children to come home?

What if…

  The King of Kings and Lord of Lords wants His children to return to their first love?

What if…

  As has happened many times down through the centuries

    God’s people provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds,

      And a plague broke out among them?

        And the skies rained meteors and the sun turned black?

What if…

  His children soon forgot his works;

    Did not wait for his counsel;

      Put God to the test;

        And God gave them what they asked…

                (Prosperity…Meat…Comfort…Ease…The Good Life…)

                  But…

                    Sent a wasting disease among them?

What if…

  The Most High God has decreed that His purifying, refining, sifting judgment

    has begun with His own household?

What if…

  God has heard decades of passionate prayers from His people for revival…

    Their tearful pleas for Jesus to be glorified in their time…

      For His will to be done and His kingdom to come…

        For family, friends, and neighbors to see His glory…

          And repent and believe?

And He has decided it is time to answer?

What if…

  His time is now…and your time is now?

    What will you do with Jesus?

What if…

  (Professing Christian – not the unbelieving world – you…)

What if…

  God strips it all away…

    All…

      Health…

        Wealth…

          Security…

            Possessions…

              The American Dream…

 And leaves you with Jesus…

    Is He enough?

What if…

  That’s the question?

    That’s the point?

What if?

(c) Trish Jones 2022

(Sources: Psalm 106; 1 Peter 4:7; $3 Worth of God, Wilbur E. Rees)

I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep,

but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk, or a snooze in the sunshine. I don’t want enough of God to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation. I want warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please. --Wilbur E. Rees