Real Life on Rocky Top

Fall is upon me. This will be the first fall of living here on Rocky Top….yep……..this Texas girl, once Georgian, then Louisianan…is now a Tennessean…..is that even a word??? And what road do we end up living on but Rocky Top… and unlike the lyrics to the famous song… there is a telephone bill, and the internet bill well let’s just say it ain’t cheap up here on old Rocky Top.

With this fall, not only are the leaves beginning to change and drop their brilliant colors onto my porch and yard but also the What if’s seemed to be crowding my mind and robbing me of “Life”.

The “What Ifs” range from the simple, almost bordering stupid to the harsh, scary reality that we live in right now.

What if the home warranty doesn’t cover this microwave that just broke……..then what???
What if the fence doesn’t get completed before we have all this company…….then what???
What if my son doesn’t get the summer internship after his second year of law school……….then what???
What if my mammogram doesn’t come back okay (breast cancer runs in my family)…then what???
What if one of my grandchildren get this enterovirus D68 that is going around the country….then what???
What if my husband doesn’t hear from the Lord on some crucial decisions he is making at church….then what???
What if the one year old baby that has been in the hospital most of his first year of life doesn’t come home from the hospital………then what???
What if my dear friends daughter who is struggling with anxiety/depression doesn’t get better…then what??
What if ISIS really does hit our nation………….then what???????

Living in the land of What if’s is as dangerous as living on Rocky Top……if I walk too close to the edge of my property, well I will fall down a steep sixty foot cliff into the lake.
So as the wind is blowing and leaves are falling ushering in a new season……..my heart and mind are desperately trying to battle the land of What ifs and avoid the cliff on Rocky Top. I don’t want to live in the land of What ifs on Rocky Top. I want to live… really live!

In II Timothy 1:1 as Paul sits in a nasty, dirty Roman jail, he writes to his beloved, spiritual son Timothy. Paul reminds Timothy of “the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus”! This word “promise” is nearly always used for the promises of God. It is a legal term which is for something that is graciously given. In other words the gift is not earned! He tells Timothy that this “life” (“Zoe” life) is only found in Christ.

Paul is in jail and talking about the promise of life
If anyone should have been living in the land of What ifs… it is Paul.

What if I never get out of this Roman Prison?
What if all I have poured my life into is destroyed by false teachers, immorality, ect……

Yet, the Holy Spirit gave Paul the secret to leaving behind the “What if” land and never tumbling down Rocky Top and choosing to live REAL Life.

“For God does not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.” II Timothy 1:7
When I choose to entertain all those What ifs…..it is choosing fear. God clearly says this spirit of fear is not from Him. Fear living, what if living is a battle in my mind.
The tools the Holy Spirit give me are power, love and a sound mind.

His power… the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, is the same power that lives in me. Yet, I have to choose it, use it, stand on it, live in it.

His love… this agape, unselfish, unconditional love that He gave me when He died on the cross is the same love I have access to. Yet, I have to live in it, walk in it practice it.

A sound mind… a mind capable of distinguishing between truth and a lie. He has also given to me.

According to John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life….” He enables me to determine truth from a lie and choose to reject all the What ifs??? And avoid the treacherous fall down Rocky Top!

He is LIFE …REAL LIFE. Life that is filled with His power, His love, and ability to discern truth from lies.
So today as the leaves are falling, season is changing………all the what ifs…….well they are not reality.

I do not know what will happen tomorrow, next week, next month, next season……..But today…..I know He has given me LIFE to live with His power, love, and a sound mind.

And as the song lyrics do say……..Rocky Top……you are home sweet home to me.