What If - In These Times

As soon as this virus was named a Pandemic, I was given a new role as “Business Essential.” Basically, what this meant was that even if our Governor, or the President, shuts down our state, I am required as a “Mission Critical” employee to come to work.

Seeing this getting closer and closer to a real possibility, I asked our corporate office to develop a letter stating this fact so, in the event I am stopped by either police or military personnel, I could simply show them proof as to why I was on the roads.

For whatever reason, this seemed to be an unreal request to them as, obviously, they had never been asked to do this before. I couldn’t blame them for their ignorance, yet I persisted.

It all turned into a political mess, as I just couldn’t get anyone to realize this is something that will be needed if this were to happen.

They kept saying things like, “this probably isn’t going to happen” or “it’s unlikely this will happen” to which my response was, “What if it does?”

Being the person that I am, always using logic and reason for all my decisions, I thought I could relate this question (what if) to what we’re all going through right now.

I’d like to take a little trip down memory lane to talk about some of the “what ifs” in history.

Adam & Eve

Let’s start at the very beginning of time. Back when God first created man; then woman to live in this new world He had just created.

If you’ve read Genesis, you know how it all began. After God had created the earth, He also created man, and gave him a beautiful paradise to live in called the Garden of Eden.

He then charged the man with being the caretaker of this beautiful place. He also, knowing how much work this was going to be, created woman… to work with and care for him.

Imagine living in such a paradise. Even better, imagine living in such a paradise with only one rule!

Genesis 2:16-17 – “And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.’”

Well, as you all know the story, they messed it up. The devil came to them and convinced them that, “Surely, you will not die” so, they took the forbidden fruit.

This made God very angry (understandably) and they were thrown out of the garden as punishment and came to know all the “bad things” associated with the devil and his evil ways.

But what if they did what was right?

Out of the Mouths of Babes…

I found a little article on the Internet where children were asked this very question. I apologize for not citing my resource on these answers from children as I was “all over” Google finding other opinions, but I found these answers pretty believable.

“Bees wouldn’t sting, bears wouldn’t bite, and bad things wouldn’t happen,” says Amanda, 6. Also, “You could keep lions and tigers for pets,” adds Marci, 9. “The world would be wonderful.”

Amanda and Marci may have been reading the prophet Isaiah wrote…

Isaiah 11:6 – “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.”

Marci adds if we were in the Garden of Eden, “Mosquitoes wouldn’t bite.” Jennifer, 11, says it would be a good thing because, “We would probably be running around naked without thinking it’s wrong.”

Hillary, 6, added that Adam and Eve “wouldn’t have had to hide from God” if they hadn’t eaten the forbidden fruit.

As we would know it…

What we as Christians do know, the devil would still be taunting us; he would still be trying everything within his power to lure us away from God. But here is what we’re pretty certain of…

We would be walking in the presence of God.

We wouldn’t know of, or fear death.

We wouldn’t know what pain was (childbirth).

We wouldn’t know sadness or tears.

We would truly Love one another and live in complete harmony under God.

Looking at History

Okay, so we’ve talked a little about the beginning of time and the “what ifs,” now let’s move a little forward to the

beginning of our great country.

George Washington Crosses the Delaware (Revolutionary War)

The war at that point in time was not going well. Enlistments would have been up for most of the men in about a month. Many men had already deserted.

General Washington needed a win to build up moral. He crossed over Delaware River in the dead of night and in bitter cold. It took several hours but he reached Trenton in the early hours of Christmas morning.