Boys, Worst Case Scenarios, and Hope

This past fall I signed up to be a Student Life Adviser at the college I graduated from last spring. An SLA is kind of like if an RA and a Mentor had a baby, that baby would be me. I have seven AMAZING women of God that I share life with and (hopefully) help draw nearer to the Lord. I meet with all my girls weekly and I am sure as you can imagine, being a single blooming young lady, a common topic that comes up is...boys.

If you know me at all, the thought of me  "coaching" girls in and out of their different relationships with guys is laughable. I am what you call....EXTREMELY un-experienced. I have never dated, never been pursued, and in my whole life had about 1 "crush" (and that didn't go so hot). Boys just aren't my thing, I am wonderfully single.

That being said, God doesn't entirely care about our credentials, but about our willingness to give it a shot. So I started with listening, feeling with them the emotion that comes with being young and liking someone. Trying to "Guard your heart", but test the waters - oh but wait, don't pursue him, he has got to pursue you. ITS HARD, and weird and complicated. And most of the time all I could offer them is I'm sorry.

But then one day it hit, Hope.

A girl was sharing her heart with me about a particular situation, the vulnerability of her not knowing if her special someone shared feelings was really upsetting her. And so I finally asked her, "Veronica, what is the worst case scenario?"

Huh?

What is the WORST that could happen?

Well of course she is thinking that Bob is really in love with Sue.

Okay, lets go from there. Lets say Bob loves Sue. He publicly shames you in front of everyone and all you want to do it die, then what? You will probably want to cry, and then you be hurt for a while and rightly so. And we will all be there for you.

But then, because you have the Holy Spirit inside of you you will take all your burdens to the Lord and ask Him to comfort you and He will. T
hen He will ask you to repent of any wrong thoughts you had towards Bob and Sue and you will because you love the Lord above all else. Then that forgiveness will set you free and time will pass and it will be okay.

This is what separates us from the rest of the world. We have hope. We have a heavenly Father who is just waiting to restore us at every turn so that we don't miss a beat and continue right on.

Over the summer I heard of a family serving in Turkey. The husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given less than a year to live. This family had been in their area for years, radical believers who would drive to the Iran, Iraq and Syrian border to try to reach those in remote villages. Awesome stuff.

The Stewart Family serving in Turkey

But when he was diagnosed they decided that he was not going to seek treatment, but rather he was going to die with Joy, because of the hope he had through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, knowing that when he breathed his last breath he would be joined eternally with his maker.

If you know anything about Islam you know that death is on of the most feared things. People are terrified of Judgement day. I have heard some Muslims say that snakes come a torment your physical body after you have died, the stories are just horrific. And because Allah is all powerful, they have NO assurance that no matter how strong their faith they will be welcomed into paradise.

The family shared with their Turkish friends and family of what  was happening and why they were choosing to stay, they shared their hope and joy.

This family realized that their worst case scenario ended with hope. Hope that the Lord was never going to leave or forsake this man's widowed wife (who return to Turkey after his death to continue to serve there by the way), that Christ would be glorified, and that people may come to know Jesus because of this testimony.

What I am getting at is this, this thought process of breaking down the worst case scenario and seeing the goodness of God in the midst of it is not just for boy problems, or terminal illnesses. It is for our everyday life. That is why Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit, so that He could go with us through every moment and every circumstance. We can say with great joy I have conquered all fear, all powers of darkness, and my hope is in the Lord who will renew my strength no matter what.

Next time we are in the bog of the world and we feel overwhelmed and unsure, lets ask ourselves, what is the worst case scenario?