What if...?

Remember when life was “normal?” Remember how much complaining and criticizing went on when life was “normal?” Yet have you noticed that everywhere we turn people are saying they can’t wait for life to get back to normal?

What if it never does?

Listening to the nightly news can certainly feed into our “what ifs,” can’t it? Maybe we could envision a whole new, better normal by considering different “what ifs.” Such as:

What if, years from now, when you ask your grown kids to share their favourite memory from their childhood, they say it was during the pandemic of 2020 because they got to stay home from school and spend quality time with you?

What if crime goes down because the troublemakers are staying home?

What if travel loses its appeal, keeping your vacation dollars here in our local economy?

What if the environment improves because of fewer carbon dioxide emissions?

What if, after this is over, we all scrimp and save until we’ve socked away enough money to cover six months of living expenses, like financial advisors have been telling us to do all along?

What if you discover a whole new career that you love because you were forced to homeschool your children or take a temporary job or cross-train for different duties at work?

 

What if, in the race to discover a cure for the corona virus, scientists stumble upon a cure for cancer?

What if traffic accidents decrease because so few are on the highways?

What if sports injuries decline because games are cancelled?

What if, during this pandemic, our medical experts realize they can bring huge relief to our system by paying doctors for phone consults when appropriate? (I received a call from my lung specialist, for the first time ever, with results of a scan done in February. For me, it meant five minutes out of my day as opposed to hours in a waiting room, a round trip to Winnipeg plus parking costs, for the same outcome!)

What if the incidents of ordinary colds and flu diminish because we’ve made a habit of better hand hygiene?

What if the death toll rises to a million when the enemy of our souls intended it to wipe out all 7.8 billion of us? (As of this writing, 59,000 have died of Covid-19 worldwide. Yes, it’s terrible. For perspective, 50 million died in the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918-19.)

What if, after restrictions are lifted, every church in town is bursting at the seams because people are spiritually hungry for the first time?

What if relationships are restored because the harsh reminder of your own mortality caused you to forgive or ask forgiveness or initiate that important conversation?

What if you look back on this and see a hundred ways that God has carried you through?

What if you come out kinder, calmer, more compassionate and patient?

What if God keeps his promise in II Chronicles 7:14 to forgive our sin and heal our land because we, his people, have humbled ourselves and prayed and sought his face?

Many of these outcomes are out of our sanitized little hands. But several of them are up to us. Whether or not they come to fruition will be determined largely by what you choose to do today. Right now. In the middle of it.

I bet you can think of more “what-ifs.” I’d love to hear them. God bless you!