Hope this time is great for you. I pray the God of comfort is comforting your hearts. I was thinking about you and about me writing to you. I always ask God what he wants to say to you before I write. He brought me to an incident that happened some years ago. I went to see my granddaughters, and they were upset and crying. Their dog had run off.

Michaela, my oldest, said that she was sure the dog was dead. I asked her how she knew that. She replied that it had been gone several days and had either gotten run over, or wild animals had killed it. I asked her if she had any proof that it was dead. Through her tears, she told me that she did not know for sure if it was dead.

I said, “So . . . what if not? What if the dog was alive somewhere and doing just fine?”

She said, “But you do not know that.”

I told her that she did not know it was dead. She could choose to believe that it was dead or choose to believe it was alive. There was no proof either way. I asked her, “What do you want to believe?”

She stopped crying and said, “I want to believe that a good, old, lonely person found it, and they are happy.”

I said, “Then believe it.”

Now you may say, Mike, that is not realistic. Well, faith is not realistic. God, Jesus, the Word, and the Holy Spirit are not realistic. You may think, feel, or believe “what if not” about the truth of God. I say my faith is, “What if it is true.” The Word says, “the just live by faith” in Romans 1:17. I put my entire life and hope on believing, “What if . . . what if God is real, Jesus is Lord, and the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, and peace.” Believing and having faith in God’s Word, gives me peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7). What does doubt bring? – fear and depression . . . No thanks. My God is alive. Jesus is in heaven, and the Holy Spirit is on earth with and within us right now.

So when Satan says, “What if God is not? What if he will not provide, protect, or save you,” just answer through faith, “What if he will provide, protect, love, comfort, meet my needs, save me, heal me, hold me, and be my Abba Daddy?”

Look. It is your life to choose to be filled with joy, peace, and hope . . . or despair. You ask, “Could a person have trust in a lie?” Sure, but you would never achieve peace or hope in a lie. The Word says, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” in John 8:32. Freedom is peace and purpose. Faith in Jesus as Lord will lead you there.

P.S. The girls’ dog never came home.  You say, “Did it die?”

I say, “Any proof? What if not? What do you choose to believe – in a God that loves you or an empty eternity? You choose.”

– Written by Pa