I wrote this a long time ago, so I don’t remember the situation, but the wisdom from my Aunt Betty is applicable to any time we go into the “what ifs.”

Betty: You go into hyperboles of “what if.” You seem to enjoy chewing on it. They are always toxic. They aren’t hopeful. Ask the Lord for the grace to be aware when you’re going down that path. Those toxic tapes only glorify Satan. Don’t do it. When we sing the praises of God and thank Him, that gives Him glory. But if we go into the toxic tapes, we are giving Satan glory. Ask for the grace to identify the toxic tapes, so you know when you start on one and are chewing on it. When you start into the “what ifs,” before you know it, you have your house burning down. People can put themselves in a mess through the “what ifs.”

Don’t go into the future giving Satan power though your focus on negative possibilities. You need to have a right use of energy, the energy that stays in the present moment. Give it to the Lord. If Christ is for me, who can be against me. The Word itself has power. This is the frame we are meant to go into. You went into the “what ifs.” It’s a negative prayer. You’re putting your energy into the furtherance of the dark kingdom, not into the Kingdom of light, which is the Word of God. “If Christ is for me, who can be against me.” That type of thought is praying furtherance of light. It all depends on the choices we make. Are we moving towards building of Christ based on the Word of God and solid principles? 

If we choose to go into toxic thinking, we’re using the energy God has given us in the moment to build darkness. Jesus said, “Do not be fearful,” 365 times. Why would He say that if we had no control over our anxieties and fears? We do have control with the grace of God. Pagan thinking says everyone is anxious.It’s normal. But that’s a lie. According to the Word of God, with the grace of God, Jesus is saying, With Him, you don’t have to be fearful and anxious. (Luke 12:22) Our thinking is the access point to the Kingdom of God on one side or the Kingdom of darkness on the other side. We need to make a choice. Don’t go there. Your life will change when you make a decision to not live in fear. The choices we make to either put our energy into the Kingdom of light or Kingdom of darkness will either produce fruits of compassion, love, and goodness, or fear, anxiety, and negative judgments. How you use your energy in your head will produce fruits. One fruit is goodness, love, and truth. The other is gossip, judgment, anger, etc.

If  you have an open door, it can give Satan more power. We want Jesus to help close those doors that Satan can work through.We want to state that we are standing in agreement with the Word of God.and that we don’t want our family infected with darkness.

Are there any places in your life where you’re going into the “if onlys?”