Pops… “What if?”

Drew Jones Wolgemuth. All boy. Nearly four years old. A tornado of activity. A tsunami of questions.

But not just inquisitive questions, ponderous and vast and provocative questions. They leap over symmetry or continuity, but they never lack sincerity and passion.

“Pops… what if my finger falls off?”

And while I’m forming a thoughtful response with a meaningful and biblically informed answer, the second barrage…

“Pops… what if I swallow fire?”

Fire, I think. Swallowing fire. But, I’m still stuck on the finger question! Swallowing, the answer to this is tricky because an inaccurate or misleading reply and who knows what…

“Pops… what if my leg blows up?”

Hold on, Drew. I’m still doing research on fingers and fire, but alas…

“Pops, what if I never eat again?”

“Pops, what if I smash this?”

“What if…?”

Fast, random, sincere… outrageous. Drew.

His questions leap across the universe in a single bound. They escape the grip of logic. They entertain and expose.

Psalm 27: 1-5
Light, space, zest—
    that’s God!
So, with him on my side I’m fearless,
    afraid of no one and nothing.
When vandal hordes ride down
    ready to eat me alive,
Those bullies and toughs
    fall flat on their faces.
When besieged,
    I’m calm as a baby.
When all hell breaks loose,
    I’m collected and cool.
I’m asking God for one thing,
    only one thing:
To live with him in his house
    my whole life long.
I’ll contemplate his beauty;
    I’ll study at his feet.
That’s the only quiet, secure place
    in a noisy world,
The perfect getaway,
    far from the buzz of traffic. (MSG)

What if…
… vandal hordes?
… bullies?
… the enemies of all that is right and good?

Not just Drew but David. Not just David, but me.

God in the “what if.” Always present. Always loving. Always sovereign.

With ten fingers or nine. With a throat on fire, with a single leg, with an empty stomach, in destruction…

“What if” meets “with us,” and “with us” is the on-ramp to “in us.”

“What if” is answered with the overwhelming, consistent presence of God.

With machine gun like rhythm, Drew invites the answer of the ages…

“Christ in us, the hope of glory.”

Whatever catastrophe…

“What if cancer?”
“What if failure?”
“What if poverty?”
“What if plenty?”
“What if rebellion?”
“What if what seems good is viewed as evil, and evil as good?”
“What if danger?”
“What if wicked people prosper?”
“What if death?”

Always, and only, Christ in us.

God doesn’t avoid the question, He infuses it with His immovable presence.

Resilient love. Unbounded hope. Enduring grace.

In every “what if?”

A question for the ages, an answer for all eternity.