WHY NOT?
I NEVER ASK MYSELF THIS QUESTION - WHY NOT?
It is so easy to get wrapped and tangled in the why. Why this? Why that? I wonder how often I actually consider the why not - HARDLY!
Maybe you can relate?
Does the word why come to mind when inconvenient situations and circumstances occur? I become a detective at the slightest inconvenience: car issues, rude customers, last minute changes, bad hair days. You name it, I question it. Why today? Why now? Why me?
I question the cause for the unplanned event in hopes for the orchestrator of these distasteful inconveniences to feel apologetic and quickly reset my life to how it was moments before. But, the joke is ALWAYS on me!
Life does not have a reset button. We are required to roll with the punches; therefore, the answers to our why are irrelevant.
It is the WHY NOT we should consider. This phrase checks our entitlement! The maturity attached to this question is rare. I am not claiming to possess said maturity when it comes to allowing these life disruptions to roll off my shoulder, but I CAN IMAGINE the mental ease to being UNBOTHERED when things happen.
Imagine asking yourself “WHY NOT?” the next time your day does not unfold in your favor. Seriously. Are you capable of switching your perspective? I have only walked this Earth for two decades and from this little time I have realized the only controllable variable is myself- on a good day. We may influence other people and situations, but it is never complete control we hold over these people and things.
What is important about the WHY NOT?
This past Sunday my pastor, Bishop Robert E. Smith of the Bethlehem Baptist Church, preached about the FAITHFUL CHURCH. His sermon was based from Revelations 2:8-11. The passage in the Bible reveals Jesus’ acknowledgment of the poverty and tribulations the people he addressed were experiencing during that period. In versus 10 and 11, Jesus gives a foreshadow of the tests to come and encourages the people to remain steadfast.
WHY? WHY IS IT CRUCIAL TO REMAIN STEADFAST IN THE MIDST OF LIFE’S STORMS?
Why not? Every encouraging word I have ever been told was never as affective before the storm as it was during. In all my years of living I have heard, “trouble don’t last always” , “it’ll all be over in the morning” , “there’s a light at the end of the tunnel”, and (my personal favorite) “the sun is going to shine if you hold out”. These pillar statements carry resilience for those who are going through tough times and are wondering if they have the strength to fight.
