WEDNESDAY'S WORD - SECOND-GUESS - Sadell Bradley- 2/17/2021

 

WEDNESDAY'S WORD SECOND-GUESS 2/17/2021 "Something I learned as an actor was which scenes needed to be rehearsed and which actors are good with rehearsal, which actors learn from it, and which grow stale because they start to second-guess themselves." -Angelina Jolie Actress Kate Walsh is quoted as saying, "I second-guess myself all the time. I make a decision and then wonder if I made the wrong choice." Second-guessing is certainly not relegated to those in artistic professions. Most of us have been prone at one time or another to SECOND-GUESS, which Webster defines as criticizing or questioning the actions or decisions of someone (or ourselves) often after the results of those decisions are known. Second-guessing can also take on a prophetic quality: to anticipate or predict someone's actions by guesswork. Important choices are very hard for most of us to make. It is easy to judge them after the fact; hindsight is 20/20, especially when evaluating ourselves. Jesus had a simpler term for second-guessing— DOUBT—a feeling of uncertainty or a lack of conviction. WHY DID YOU DOUBT? In Matthew 14, Jesus had just performed the miracle of feeding 15-20 thousand people with a child's lunch. Witnessing that would be enough to make anyone's faith rise. Maybe that's why Peter had the gumption to walk out on the water when Jesus beckoned him, Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.” "Yes, come,” Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?” (vs.28-31) Peter was already out in the deep actively trusting in Christ. He was already in that miraculous territory, doing what he'd never thought was possible. I wonder if the storm was what really terrified him, or if it was the supernatural water-walking. Sometimes when Jesus is present with us, doing what He does best, pulling faith out of us that we never knew we could possess, and taking us into the extraordinary—it makes us nervous—sometimes petrified. Peter was already inside of the wonder of his life before he started looking around at distractions. We do that too, and then we lose our already miraculous momentum. So...why do YOU doubt? DON'T MISS OUT! Ever wonder what would have happened if Peter had just kept focusing on walking with Jesus? Ever wonder what would happen if you did the same? Despite what's occurred in all of our rear-view mirrors, God is moving in our present. It is important that we not only realize that but embrace it. I don't know whether the decisions I've made in the past were always the right ones, but I do know that second-guessing them is not the right decision today. That will only cause me to sink. The statement bears repeating, "When we second-guess the past, we often miss what God is doing in the present."