Today I would like for us to take a look at a huge word that God uses when He speaks to His people. Often overlooked, it is comprised of only two letters that make it appear very small, but when understood properly, it has great implications for all of our lives.  This word is the key that unlocks our understanding of man's free will and the mechanism by which God's plan for our lives unfolds. This word determines the future course of our individual lives, down to the smallest detail.  It opens the way to God's blessings, and also His curses.  Do you want God's best for your life, His perfect will?  Then you want to take a good, long look at this tiny word and study how it's used throughout the Scriptures.  The word is "IF".
(Read Deuteronomy 11 for a graphic example.) 

   "IF"?  What's the big deal about "IF"?  Well, friends, the implications of this word, especially when spoken by God, are massive, even radical.  Let's first take a look at what the primary dictionary definition of "IF" is.

1.a. In the event that:  If I were to go, I would be late.
   b. Granting that:  If that is true, what should we do?
   c. On the condition that:  She will play the piano only if she is paid.

Core Meaning: It's a conjunction used to indicate the circumstances that would have to exist in order for an event to happen. It's used to indicate possibilities, uncertainties, doubt.

   Here you can see that the word "IF" implies an uncertain future.  This is an interesting word indeed, especially when God uses it.  Many people assume (wrongly) that there is nothing in our future that is uncertain to God, and that He has either already pre-planned everything that we do or that He already sees what we will do.  The Bible, however, reveals many examples where God obviously does not know exactly what we will do.  Consequently, since His own actions so often depend on our own personal choices, He doesn't know exactly what He will be doing either, except that He has a large, general plan within which He is more than able to adapt to any and all choices we may make.  He improvises, changes plans, and even outright changes His mind at times, according to the need of the moment.  He is truly awesome and we see Him in His glory as He skillfully manages His universe while at the same time leaving our free wills intact.  Let's take a look at some of these examples in the Scriptures.  Please read the following carefully.

   Exodus 4: 1-17
1 Then Moses answered and said, "But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, 'The LORD has not appeared to you.'"
2 So the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod."
3 And He said, "Cast it on the ground." So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.
4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail" (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand),
5 "that they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."
6 Furthermore the LORD said to him, "Now put your hand in your bosom." And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like snow.
7 And He said, "Put your hand in your bosom again." So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his other flesh.
8 "Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign.
9 And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land."
10 Then Moses said to the LORD, "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."
11 So the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?
12 Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say."
13 But he said, "O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send."
14 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and He said: "Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
15 Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do.
16 So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God.
17 And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs."
(NKJV)

   Above we see the amazing account of God attempting (successfully) to convince Moses to take on the mission of going to Egypt and setting the Israelites free.  Moses obviously has doubts about many aspects of this mission, and God is clearly playing this moment by moment as they have a discussion about the details.

   Moses was worried that nobody would believe his story that God had sent him.  He didn't want to look like an idiot in front of Pharaoh or his fellow Hebrews.  God  understands his fears, so He gives Moses three signs to perform in front of them, in order to prove that God indeed is behind all of this.  However, notice carefully what God says in verses 8-9, 

   "Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign. And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land." 

   God clearly uses the "IF" word, knowing the future is not a done deal.  While God knows all of our tendencies better than we know ourselves, there is no final certainty as to how any of us will act under most circumstances.  Then, in this same section of Scripture we see God is unable to convince Moses of his ability to speak to the Egyptians, so God in anger gives the speaking role to Aaron.  This is real drama being played out, with no exact script being followed.  God clearly experiences life alongside us in the present, moment by moment, interacting with and adapting to all of the millions of free choices we all make each and every day.  It's truly a monumental task that our Almighty God has undertaken, and yet one in which we can be confident in His ability to handle.  This is where our faith truly comes in...exciting, eh?  Let's look at one more of the numerous examples of this in the Bible.

   Jeremiah 18:1-11
1 The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said,
2 "Go down to the potter's shop, and I will speak to you there."
3 So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel.
4 But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.
5 Then the Lord gave me this message:
6 "O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand.
7 If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed,
8 but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned.
9 And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom,
10 but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would.
11 "Therefore, Jeremiah, go and warn all Judah and Jerusalem. Say to them, 'This is what the Lord says: I am planning disaster for you instead of good. So turn from your evil ways, each of you, and do what is right.'"

   Again we see God telling us that our futures are not fixed.  In this case God says He will change His mind about judgments and blessings according to how we conduct ourselves.  This is the very thing about God that annoyed Jonah the prophet.  Jonah wanted God to destroy the Ninevites, so he didn't want to go preach to them, knowing that if they repented, God would change His mind about punishing them.  Also, when King Hezekiah was told by God through the prophet Isaiah to get his affairs in order because his sickness was unto death, he prayed and cried unto the Lord until God decided to respond and add 15 years to his life.  Read this amazing account for yourself in 2Kings 20:1-11.

   "IF" is the biggest word God uses to remind all of us that our futures are not written in stone, that our daily choices mean everything when it comes to shaping our lives.  Our future is whatever we choose to create moment by moment, not something already there that we simply watch unfold.  The devil is the one who wants us to think that the future already exists, because he knows that will cause us to become complacent and just take everything that comes along as "God's plan" or God's will".  Everything that happens is clearly not God's will, and this is why Jesus taught us to pray that God's will be done on the earth as it is in heaven.  Prayer is our opportunity and privilege to interact with and co-labor with God.  Prayer really affects God and moves Him to act.  It's not just an exercise in futility designed only to change us, as is commonly taught.  Think about it...

"If My people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."  2 Chronicles 7:14  (KJV)

"...You do not have, because you do not ask God."  James 4:2b  (NIV)

-nOFuTuRe