Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

Ephesians 1:4 NLT

“But what if” seems so innocent. Some might even say that thinking about the “what if” is just good planning. But after a while it slips into our everyday decision making like a virus, slowly changing the way we live, the way we love, and the way we see ourselves.

It affects our friendships:

Lets go to that party tonight

I would, but what if no one wants to talk to me?

It affects our working life:

Please could you present your project to everyone next week?

I want to, but what if I do it all wrong?

Sometimes it even affects our future:

Will you accept the job?

I want to, but what if I fail?

And then there’s the biggest “but what if” of all. The one that is represented by all the other “but what ifs” that invade our lives. The “but what if” that is really saying:

But what if I get rejected.

How many times have you said no to something or someone, simply because you were scared you would be rejected? A relationship? A job? An opportunity to learn something new or to do something fun? God?

“But what if” makes us think the very worst about ourselves, and makes us assume that others think those things too. It tells you that you are someone to laugh at. Someone who is probably going to get it wrong. Someone who isn’t brave. Isn’t interesting. Isn’t loveable.

Let’s try flipping the story…

“But what if” God doesn’t see you that way?

Ephesians 1 lists some of the best ways that God loves you and the reasons he loves you. It might be written to a group of people who lived a long time ago in a funny sounding place, but it is true for all of us. Before God created the world, he decided to create you. Imagine that. Imagine, in all of those “but what if” scenarios, if you had considered yourself to be enough. That you didn’t need to be a different person to be good enough for that job, that person, that class.

The next time you are plagued by “but what if”, think about that. Maybe it will be enough to help you flip the story.

To God you aren’t too loud or too quiet. You aren’t annoying or boring. You aren’t too shallow or too philosophical. You aren’t too mean or too over-the-top-nice to everyone.

You are what he made you. And that will always be enough.