What’s the Worst that Could Happen?

Submitted by Jennifer Power

Sometimes, when considering a course of action, we ponder, “What’s the worst that could happen?” And, if the answer is something we can live with, then maybe we move forward. However, as followers of Jesus Christ, is this a question we have the freedom to ask?

When I was a child, fear was often my closest companion. I would lie awake at night thinking through everything that could go wrong from burglars to fires. I compulsively constructed my prayers to cover all my bases believing something terrible could happen to myself or someone I loved if I did not pray just right. I even feared the loss of my beloved stuffed animal collection and often threw most of them on the floor at night thinking they stood a better chance of survival in a fire because hot air rises.

I was terrified of loss and crippled by a fear of death.

I was afraid of interactions with others. I was terrified of being left alone in a room with just one other person. I knew I made people uncomfortable and imagined I was doing others a service by staying quiet. People would often ask me if I talked, prompting blood to rush to my face along with feelings of embarrassment and shame.

I put great effort into avoiding social interaction. I was terrified of rejection.

I knew there was something wrong with me which was not wrong with everyone else. I did my best to hide. I used to have reoccurring nightmares where our family would hide in the basement from monsters. As a child these dreams left me in a panic and cold sweat.

I feared being found out and ridiculed or worse.

My worse-case scenario may not be much different than yours. What’s my worst that could happen?

I could lose my husband. I could lose my kids. Alone, I could have nowhere to go for comfort – no one who understands me. I can certainly dress up the nightmare to make it measurably more horrifying, but that is it in a nutshell. That is my worse-case scenario.

Many years ago I was on a twelve-hour solo road trip to see a friend when God led me on a path to look my fears straight in the face. Up to that point, though I had been a devoted Christian much of my life, I lived in the tight grasp of fear and dread. I rarely experienced joy without looming dread reminding me it could be snatched away at any moment.

Joy was nearly always accompanied by fear and dread – until that day of driving, when through a recorded teaching I faced a question.

“What if everything you fear came to pass?”

“What if everything you dread happened?”

Beth Moore posed these questions to me on the road to South Carolina. God had asked her those questions once and now, it seemed, He was asking me.

“Would you give up?”

“Would you quit?”

“Would you turn your back on Me?”

It did not take long for the answer to come, from the depth of my soul, through tears – quiet, but firm and with conviction:

“No.” I whispered.

And I knew in the depth of my being it was true.

“No, Lord. I will not quit – I will not leave You. I will not give up.”

And though I heard no audible sound, it was as if the Lord spoke to me:

“Then give Me your fears. You can keep them no more. They do not matter now anyway.”

The Lord gently led me to ask and answer the question “what’s the worst that could happen?” Then, when staring my fears dead on, He asked me if I would follow Him no matter what might come. He allowed me to ponder and answer, for it was necessary for me to count the cost. But from that point on, I was to consider life in this way no more. I had said yes to God – yes to following Him regardless of the cost – regardless of what life might bring, and I was not to keep weighing my actions against the worse-case scenario.

I often still try to put my foot down in certain areas. “I will move to Las Vegas”, I say, “but only if we can live in a safe neighborhood.” Or, “I will support my husband in whatever he pursues, as long as it is not dangerous.”

And surely we must use good sense, but our first and foremost consideration when choosing our actions should not be counting the cost and setting up our parameters – it should be obedience to Christ. Once we have said yes to God, there is no longer any place for our own agendas. We cannot continue living by our own conditions.

We must learn to listen and hear the still small voice of God, and we must choose to obey. In the mundane aspects of our everyday lives, we must learn to pause, pray, listen, and obey. We must check our actions, our very lives against scripture. We must seek after God and His Kingdom with every breath, every thought, every word, every action. Obedience to God is not just reserved for big decisions or for small decisions. We must live and breathe obedience and remove all our parameters.

If God called you to a mission in a developing country, would you go?

If God called you to give away every excess dime and possession and live only on bare essentials, would you obey?

If God called you to give your life to a pursuit that never succeeded, would you think He failed you and walk away?

If following God meant you lived unappreciated, humiliated, and rejected, would you choose to go your own way?

If following God meant you would lose everyone you love, would you still do it?

Are you asking the Holy Spirit to teach you to hear that still small voice so you are able to be obedient, or are you scared of what that kind of obedience will bring?

We must understand that God’s desire is for our good – the good of all people He has created. He is not mean-spirited and does not call us to full out devotion so that He can crush us and leave us empty. But we all know life is full of pain, and followers of Jesus are not exempt. We need only look at His earliest disciples and many who followed after to see this is true.

Today, do you have the courage to ask yourself, “what’s the worst that could happen?” Then, are you willing to follow Christ even if doing so brings about your worst-case scenario? God calls us to count the cost, so we are free to ask this question before we choose a life of devotion and discipleship to Him; but, once we have asked and answered “yes,” we lose the freedom to continue setting the parameters. We can be hot or we can be cold. We can be in or we can be out. God does not allow us to be lukewarm.

Let us heed the words of the angel sent by Jesus Christ to His servant John in Revelation to the church at Laodicea:

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold not hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”

“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

“To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

When we become aware we are laying parameters in our lives, we must repent and ask once again to be led by God. As a Director of Children’s Ministry, the biggest need I see in the life of Christian families is for children to see radical authentic faith modeled for them. They need to see parents and grandparents whose knowledge of God’s love for them runs so deep, they are not afraid to follow Him fully and completely, without reservation or parameters.

I know this is not easy. I know we all fail in this pursuit. We cannot help it – we are deeply flawed by sin. This, however, is no excuse. The blood of Jesus Christ has been spilt to set us free from the entanglements of sin and death. The power of the Holy Spirit has been released and is available to us. We are no longer helpless victims of sin, and we must stop acting as such. Yes, we make mistakes. Yes, we fall. But, by the grace of God through the power of the Holy Spirit, we must keep getting up. We must pursue a life of complete surrender and obedience.

May God grant you His grace this day and the deep assurance of His great love for you.