Be alert and think straight. Put all your hope in how God will treat you with undeserved grace when Jesus Christ appears. 1 Peter 1:13 CEV
Do you ever get caught up in the “what ifs?” Of course you do. What if it rains? What if it doesn’t rain? What if we’re late? What if they don’t come? What if they do come? We can wrangle and “waller” (as one of my southern girlfriends likes to say) a situation around until we’re sick of it – even before anything has a chance to happen. We just hope for the best, right?
As you are well aware, many of our “what if’s” never transpire. They simply wasted time and energy. Even more sadly, most of our “what-ifs” focus on “what if things go wrong? What if the outcome doesn’t turn out as I hope? What if I get hurt, betrayed,” and on and on.
Peter could have indulged in that kind of thinking all day long. He was not educated as most leaders and communicators of the day were. He was a career fisherman with little in common with the professionals in religious life. He was on the wrong side of power, religiously and politically, and he had failed to show courage in the past when it was most needed. How could he now effectively share Jesus? What if he was rejected? What if they mentioned his past? What if I can’t support myself and my family? What if I get arrested? Worse, what if I am killed?
But Peter knew how to think straight. He didn’t focus on the “what ifs” and hope for a good outcome. He focused on what was certain. He put all his hope in the certain expectation that God would always treat him with undeserved grace. That took all the crippling fear out of his circumstances. He didn’t know what the grace would look like, but it would always be more than he deserved. He confidently expected that everything would be just as God knew it should be, and he would be more than satisfied.
Before Easter, Peter had no hope. His worst what-ifs had happened. Jesus was dead and buried. He had failed him, the dream of the kingdom Jesus had promised was over, and now he was going back to fishing. But then came Easter. Jesus walked out of that tomb, forever assuring that Hope was a person, and He was that person.
The exceedingly generous and monumental assurance for us is that everything in front of us is grace. “We have this hope, this confident expectation, as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Hebrews 6:19 BSB
- Worried about today? Focus on your confident expectation of how God will treat you with undeserved grace. Concerned about the unknown future? Think straight. Confidently expect that God will treat you with undeserved grace. He will.