THE POWER OF “WHAT IF...?

[Faith in the Wrong ‘What If...?’]

“What if…?” works both ways. When we get into hypothetical situations, the
longer we wait on God to change certain situations. And once again, how many
are there right now? Maybe you even feel like you’re drowning in what you
don’t know. You’ve analysed it, and there’s a certain element of it you can’t
control. And maybe, the reason why we can’t control these situations is because
the devil didn’t start this storm; Jesus sent them directly into it.
So, a lot of us when going through these storms or challenges, it’s either we
stop or turn around. But, what if?... Oh, sige, nag-stop tayu, timmalaw tayu. But
what if, there’s something on the other side that is worth going through the
storm for?
Is it just me? Or is it harder sometimes for us to give faith to the “What if..?”
than it is to give fear to the “What if…?”? Just like the wind blows… the wind
can blow in either direction. So can the “What ifs”. And a lot of times in my life
I’ve learned that fear is just faith in the wrong “What if…”.
“What if we fail?” – “What if we don’t?” “What if he can’t?” – “What if he can?”

[Are You Facing Resistance?]

Adda iti maysa nga pastor, haan ku ammu nu anya ti religion na ngem pastor
isuna. Ket in-share na iti story da idi agis-start palang iti church da. And he said
that, just as soon as they went to start the church, the resources that were
supposed to be given for their salary were pulled back. Then somebody else was
going to pay their insurance, and that also got pulled back. Now, this Pastor
said, “If my faith in God was contingent upon the conditions, I would have taken
that as a sign that God don’t want me to start the church.”
But what if the wind is proof that what’s on the other side is so significant you
have to push through to get there? A lot of us interpret the wind as an
indication that we should turn back around and head home. But in this
particular situation, Jesus said, “I want you to go to the other side.”
In Matthew 14:28, Peter didn’t even really express faith; he just considered
possibility. He didn’t say, Lord, I know it’s you. Tell me to come.” He said, “Lord,
if…” (refer to Matthew 14:28)
Like I’ve said earlier, “What if…” works both ways. “What if…?” can make you
give up, “What if…” can make you freak out, or “What if…?” can make you step
forward.

[When Jesus Gives You One Word]

And I want you to notice something Jesus did. When Peter said, “If it’s you, give
me a word,” and Jesus took him really literally. He gave him one word – “Come”
And this made me think that sometimes the deepest things God speaks will be
the simplest. Because sometimes we can confuse deep with confusing. Some of
the deepest things God will speak will be so simple, like “Come”. Maybe, when
Jesus said to Peter to come, maybe Peter was thinking, “Jesus, I was expecting a
little more. I’ve never walked on water before. Are you going to give me any
pointers? Like, a little bit of coaching? Like, should I put all my weight on one
foot?” He was walking on water!

[If God isn’t Giving You Details]

Peter is transcending the laws of buoyancy, yet Jesus does not give him details,
just direction. So, if God isn’t giving you details right now, ask him for direction
instead.
Some of the biggest words God ever spoke to me in my life were just directions,
impressions in my spirit. Sometimes God will speak to me, and he’ll tell me, “Go
say, I’m sorry.” “Well, Lord, I would rather do a Bible study on forgiveness.” Do
you see how sometimes we want something deep so we don’t have to do
anything with it?
The Pastor that I’ve mentioned earlier said, “I’ve been guilty in seasons of my
life at highlighting my Bible, but at the same time I was highlighting my Bible I
wasn’t even willing to embrace the simplest habits, like gratitude. I know in my
life that being grateful is the greatest way for me to have joy, so why is it the
hardest thing to do? Because it’s so simple.” Kasla tay ibagbaga tayu nga,
“Nakasim-simple nga banag, nagrigat nga ubraen.”
So see, siguro kailangan tayu nga i-simplify dagiti ibagbaga ni Apo Diyos kanya
tayu. Haan tayu kailangan nga maawatan amin. Some of us have so complicated
what we need from God to move forward in faith, but all he said was “Come”.
Sometimes all he’ll say to you is “Peace.” Sometimes all he’ll say to you is
“Love”. Sometimes all he’ll say to you is “Forgive.” And I found out that
sometimes God will not give the details; he’ll simply set the direction.

[The Command is the Confirmation]

He said, “You know how you want confirmation to obey me sometimes?” Like,
“God, I’ll do it if you give me a sign.” “Give me a sign that I’m supposed to do it.”
You know you’re supposed to do it. It’s something you know you’re supposed to
do anyway. “God, give me a sign and I’ll tithe.”
But God said, “The command is the confirmation.”
“Well, God, I don’t know if I can.”
“I wouldn’t have told you to come if you couldn’t.”
When he said “Come”, when he gave the command, he also supplied the
strength for us to step on, step out. The same voice that told Peter to come
would also be the same word that would enable him to do it. So I don’t need
any more confirmation but that he told me to. And Peter did.

[What’s on the Other Side of This?]

There’s an assignment on the other side, but God is weird, because he gives the
test before the lesson. Dagiti disciples ni Hesus idi mapan the jay other side, ket
haan da ammu nu anya ba talaga ti dadjay other side. Kasjay met lang kanya
tayu kakabsat. None of us know what’s on the other side of what we’re
currently going through.
Peter, out of the 12 disciples, was the one who had faith to step out. So, he
makes his big move. The bible doesn’t say how long he walked on the water. He
must have made it pretty far. I’m going to tell you why I think this. They couldn’t
see Jesus up close enough to know whether it was a ghost or really Jesus. They
needed to hear him to know. The only way they heard the word was the wind
carried it. The wind that was against the disciples carried the voice of Jesus.
Some of the things that are against you will enable you to hear God more
clearly.

[Faith that Sustains (Matthew 14: 22-31)]

But the other thing is, when Peter got out of the boat, when he started to sink,
Jesus grabbed him. It doesn’t say he fell immediately. It says that as soon as he
started to fall, Jesus caught him. Now, when Peter fell and Jesus caught him
immediately, the next thing Jesus said is something he said a few times in
scripture. He said, “You of little faith.” (refer to Matthew 14:31)
That offended me. The whole praise got me – “you of little faith.” And I thought,
“Well, we’re all doomed if he thinks that’s little. If that’s what he thinks is little
faith, I’m definitely not making it to heaven.”
But the phrase “You of little faith” doesn’t necessarily refer to quantity; it refers
to quality. It’s not how much faith; it’s how far faith.
Little faith. It doesn’t mean it wasn’t strong, it means that it wasn’t sustained or
iti faith tayu ket haan tayu nga mapanatili.

[I Never Saw This Before (Matthew 8: 5-10]

So I want to show you something now, and I want you to lean into this. Because
I thought, “Well, Jesus, if that’s little faith, then what is big faith?”
There are only two times in the New Testament that the Bible says Jesus was
amazed. One time was in his hometown where they had no faith in him because
they were too familiar with him. That was the one time he was amaze by their
lack of faith, but what I want to show you is in Matthew, chapter 8.
If you go with me to Matthew chapter 8, we’re going to see one of the times
Jesus was amazed. The bible says there was a centurion, a military official, who
had a sick servant. He had an issue. His storm was not a hurricane or rain and
thunder and lightning. So, his particular need revolved around the sickness of
someone he cared about. Then this centurion asked Jesus for help. He said,
“Lord, my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him,
“Shall I come and heal him?” (refer to Matthew 8:6-7)
Now let’s compare and contrast. Peter said, “If it’s you, tell me to come.” Jesus
asked the centurion, “should I come?” Then the centurion said, “Lord, I do not
deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant
will be healed.” “For I myself a man under authority, with soldiers under me, I
tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes.; I say to my
servant, ‘Do this’, and he does it.” “When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. He
was amazed and said to those following him, ‘Truly I tell you, I have not found
anyone in Israel with such great faith.” (refer to Matthew 8:8-10)

[It takes Greater Faith to Stay]

One disciple said, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come.” Jesus said, “That’s little
faith.”
One man said, “Jesus, I know who you are. You can stay.” And the Lord said,
“Sometimes it takes greater faith to stay.”
Sometimes the greatest faith is when you stay because you trust that the one
who spoke the word has authority over every situation.” See, right now, we’re
in a storm where we don’t really have anywhere to go and there’s really only so
much we can do, and I don’t really have a whole lot of options.
And God said, “When I see you staying in praise, staying grateful, staying
encouraged, staying on the job, and staying in the ministry, just staying, that’s
great faith.”
Then Jesus said, “Great faith is when you know that if I said, ‘let’s go to the
other side,’ there’s no storm in Galilee, there’s no devil in hell, there’s no virus
in the world.