10 Positive What-if Questions that will Bless You and Give You Peace
How much time do you spend thinking about what-if questions?
You know…
What if I had done this? What if I hadn’t done that? What if I’d reacted sooner? What if I hadn’t posted this or reacted to that?
It’s called “second guessing” and it’s defined as . . . criticizing or questioning someone or something retroactively.
So, my answer to the question would have to be—too much!
I’ll admit I’m guilty of wasting too many precious moments reflecting on unproductive what-if questions.
What if I’d been more patient? What if I’d tried harder? What if I were braver, stronger, less fearful, more confident, less of a procrastinator, or more fun…
And there are even more if you add those nasty worrying what-if questions.
What if this or that happens? What if I can’t? What if..?
Maybe you can relate to this self-defeating type of thinking. If so, this is for you. My goal today is to turn those what-if questions on their head by looking at God’s promises…
10 Positive What-if Questions that will Bless You and Give You Peace
1. What if I really believed all of God’s promises?
God also bound Himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that He would never change His mind. So God has given both His promise and His oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie.
Hebrews 6:17–18a
2. What if I trusted God’s love with all my heart?
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 3:5–6
3. What if I truly believed God is for me and will give me everything I need?
If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else?
Romans 8:31–32
4. What if I lived for God’s glory without trying to please everyone else?
I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you . . . Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Romans 12:1–2
5. What if I rejected fear and lived with bold faith?
Loving God means keeping His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.
1 John 5:3–4
6. What if I truly believed that through Jesus I can be completely forgiven?
For His unfailing love toward those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.
Psalm 103:11–12
7. What if I trusted God with every concern and worry?
Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.
1 Peter 5:7
8. What if I really believed that God wants me to pray about everything and that He hears and answers every prayer?
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6–7
9. What if lived like I believed that love is most important?
Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 22:37–39
10. What if I could live without fear by fully trusting God’s loving presence?
Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
Isaiah 41:10
A Prayer to Bless Your Life with What-if Questions
Father, Your promises are true forever. Your Word tells me that they never fail. Thank you for giving me Your “living and active” Word to guide me . . . for making it possible for me to KNOW Your promises.
Please forgive me for the time I have wasted on what-if questions. I’m guilty of overthinking the past and worrying about the future. I’m so sorry. Your word tells me that You want me to trust You with both my past and my future . . . that You want me to focus on living this moment for Your glory.
Lord, I ask that by the power of Your Spirit, every what-if question will draw me closer to You and to the people You have placed around me. Please help me focus on things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8) Please guide me and make me more like Jesus. In whose name I pray. Amen.
Just for fun here are 10 more questions that I believe will bless us and make every day just a little bit better.
10 More Fun What-if Questions
- What if I smiled and laughed more?
- What if I took a break from the news and social media?
- What if I went outside and took a walk?
- What if I spent more time with people I love?
- What if I said “thank you” more often?
- What if I forgave quickly?
- What if I listened to understand not simply to reply?
- What if I memorized and lived Philippians 4:8?
- What if I refused to compare the pages of my story with anyone else’s cover?
- What if I counted more blessings?
I want to be done with negative “what if” thinking. And with God’s help, I’m determined to make my “what if” questions positive and motivating.
You and I can’t change the past and it does us absolutely no good to worry about the future but we can make today better by laughing more and loving more.
I’m praying for you today . . . that you will be blessed through positive what-if questions that will help you trust, love, and maybe even laugh more, too.
We would love to pray for you.
You can leave your prayer requests here…
and even take a few minutes to pray over the list left by our friends.
Never Miss an Update
Leave your email address and I’ll send you a short email every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to alert you to each new devotion. Plus you’ll receive a copy of 30 Ways to Bless Your Marriage and Keep the Spark Burning
I always enjoy hearing from you! Please take a minute to say ‘hi” and share your thoughts in the comments below.
And if this article blessed or helped you today — would you share it with someone? Maybe a friend, family member, coworker, or through the links below…
Thanks again for visiting! Don’t forget to check out the links below to find additional posts that will bless you…
Couldn’t have been this posting any timelier ????????????. Lot’s of blessings Deb for this wonderful subject. I guess we all wrestle with the “what if’s”, I know that I am. This specially true -“I’m guilty of overthinking the past and worrying about the future. “. You just perfectly described me ????. But I love your “what if” solutions. My heart craves a deeper, committed faith, the faith that is capable to stare down any fear or difficulty because it KNOWS WHO IS FIGHTING FOR IT, and in WHOM IT TRUSTED. I’m not even remotely there…. And equally I pray for a deeper Trust, since it’s the twin sister of Faith. A Trust that already sees God’s promises fulfilled just because HE IS THE ONE WHO MADE THE PROMISE. Oh, with these two, life would become a wonderful waltz regardless of the problems and evil trying to destroy everything around us.
I love the passage in Moses with the metal snake lifted high on the pole, and after being bitten, who looked up on the snake with the BELIEF that God WILL be True to His promise, will live. For me, it’s kind of the same faith we need each day, look up on the Cross Believing that God is True to His promise and we’ll live.
I love this definition of Faith and Trust. “Faith is having STEADFAST BELIEF in someOne without having proof. Trust is actively relying on someOne’s Character and Consistency. Act as if God has ALREADY WORKED THINGS OUT versus questioning wether He will come through.”
“TRUST = (T)otal (R)eliance (U)pon (S)piritual (T)iming. ”
Oh Lord, how I wish to have this kind of Faith and Trust in You!!! Not in circumstances, not in my witt, not in my manipulation of situations, not in my skills…..but ONLY AND FULLY IN YOU ????????????. What if……
Thanks for sharing those definitions of faith and trust, Gaby. I’m always blessed by your thoughts! Have a blessed day!
Good morning Deb. I too struggle with the “what if” questions but I know that God has promised me a future full of hope which I look forward to. Thank you so much for your very encouraging comments which which are very beneficial to me as you always clarify them with the Word of God. I appreciate you and continue to be a blessing to me and many others. God bless you.
I am so blessed by your kind encouragement, Martha! Thank you so much for visiting and for stopping to say “hello.” God bless you!
These are the best “what-if” questions ever, Deb! Before your post here, I had viewed what-ifs as negative inquiries – not any more! And once again, you’ve made us realize that when we are fully focused on God, our world and our outlooks can’t be anything but positive.
Blessings!
Thanks, Martha! I’m so glad it encouraged you! I needed a change in thinking, a way to take my negative “what if” thoughts and turn them into positive blessing counting ones. God bless you, my friend!
Ditto Gaby, and Martha! Wonderfully enlightening advice to turn all my what-its completely around!! There may be hope for me yet!! Thank you, thank you, Deb! What if I share this post with other friends today??? No doubt, their day will be blessed with it, just as my day has!! My heart needed this today! What if God sent me an awesome friend, who is an awesome writer and author and her name was Deb? Smiling and thanking God that He did!
You’re so very kind, Kathy! Thanks for thoughtfully sharing this and for the way you always lift my spirits with your encouragement. You sure do bless me! Blessings and hugs to you!
This was really good, I love the idea of turning our fearful “what ifs” into positive “what ifs”. I guess that is the part of the rewiring our minds need and is part of the renewal process. It’s so easy to fall into the rut of fearful what if situations but we can choose faithful what ifs instead with daily practice…thank you for the reminder ❤️
Thank you, Aubrey! Thanks for your visit and for taking the time to join the conversation and bless me with kindness. God be with you!
Of course this is Gods timing! I opened my e-mail this morning and this is the first thing that popped up! My spirits have been lifted once again! Praise God, and thank you Deb for this awesome website. I am having cancer surgery tomorrow. I have God’s peace within me. Amen!
Oh, Corinna, I’m so glad it blessed you! We are praying for you and asking for His peace and healing to cover you. God bless you!
I will be praying for you tomorrow. I pray your surgery will go well and God will touch bring total healing to you. Praying for your family too, as I am sure they are worried and concerned. May God be with all of you. Please let us know how it goes…praying for you.
I was reading about the connection between being filled with the Holy Spirit and Praise. Even if we don’t sing out loud we can offer a melody of praise in our heart. So I have been doing that the last week. Yesterday I had to have an endoscopy, I prayed for His strength and peace as I sat in the waiting room and asked Him to be with me. Then I sang songs in my heart. The procedure didn’t seem as daunting this time and I coped better. I thanked Him straight away. What if we actually believed we could have this special relationship with God? What if we just acted on it until it was part of our life? Thank you Deb for your post and Blessings on you and your ministry x Angela
I love this, Angela. We can praise God anytime and anyplace when we praise Him in our hearts. I’m glad you got through your medical test well. Praying for good health for you. God bless you!