Last week, I wrote about learning to stop looking at everything at Chateau Mariposa that was still unfinished and appreciate what God had already built. Apparently…Carmen didn’t get that memo. Just as I was beginning to think we might actually be approaching the finish line, I found her standing outside, staring across the backyard. Then she said, “What if?”
Sometimes faith begins by seeing beyond what is…and imagining what God could do.
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
I’ve learned over the years that there is a particular look Carmen gets when she’s staring at something and not saying much. And…it usually costs money. I knew that look. She wasn’t looking at what was there. She was looking at what could be there.
I saw trees, Palmettos, brush, uneven ground, and a whole lot of work. Carmen saw something completely different. Finally, she said it…
“What if we put a firepit over there?”
And just like that…the finish line moved. Again.
What Do You See?
Carmen walked toward a natural clearing tucked between the trees. I followed. It was almost perfectly round, surrounded by clusters of palmettos and mature Florida oaks.
These weren’t exactly those perfectly straight trees you see in landscaping magazines. Years of Florida wind and weather had taken their toll. Some leaned so far over it looked as though their backs had simply gotten tired with age. But together…their sprawling branches created a beautiful canopy over the clearing.
Carmen stood there taking it all in. I could almost see the wheels turning. A fire, chairs scattered around it, friends sitting beneath the trees, people laughing, stories being told, and conversations continuing long after the sun went down.
She could see it. And eventually…I started seeing it too.
That’s one of the things I’ve learned from Carmen. Sometimes two people can stand in exactly the same place…look at exactly the same thing…and see something completely different.
One sees what is. The other asks, “What if?”
Faith Doesn’t Ignore the Brush
I think sometimes we misunderstand faith. Faith isn’t pretending the obstacles aren’t there.
Carmen saw the brush. She saw the palmettos, she saw the uneven ground, and she knew somebody was going to have to clear it.
Faith doesn’t look at an impossible situation and pretend it’s easy. It doesn’t deny reality. It simply refuses to believe that what we see right now is all there will ever be.
Faith looks at the brush…and sees a gathering place.
It looks at brokenness…and imagines restoration.
It looks at an empty space…and imagines people filling it.
And it looks at what is…and begins asking God:
“What could be?”
Maybe that’s why Hebrews describes faith as confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not yet see.
Sometimes…you have to see it before you can see it.
Apparently, We Needed to Visit Bedrock
Once Carmen’s “What if?” became our “Why not?”, there was work to do. We picked out blocks for a good-sized round firepit. Then we needed fieldstone.
That’s when we discovered that apparently the best place to buy stone in Weeki Wachee was from…
Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble.
I’m not kidding. We pulled into the local sand and gravel business and were greeted by a dinosaur nearly twenty feet tall. That probably should have prepared us. As we drove farther onto the property, there it was.
Bedrock – or at least the Weeki Wachee version.
The office looked like Fred and Barney’s workplace had somehow escaped Saturday morning cartoons and landed in the middle of Florida.
Huge dinosaur bones appeared to support the entrance. Long-necked dinosaurs stood beside a pond. They even had Fred’s car—a golf cart converted to look like his famous foot-powered vehicle.
All that was missing was Fred sliding down the tail of a brontosaurus yelling…“Yabba-Dabba-Doo!”
I looked at Carmen. “Well…I guess we’ve come to the right place.” And that’s where we bought the fieldstone for our firepit. Because apparently… when you’re building a dream in Weeki Wachee, sometimes you have to go through Bedrock first.
We Thought We Were Building a Firepit
At first, the firepit was really for us. After spending the day working on the property, we imagined sitting outside in the evening. A fire. Something cold to drink.
Carmen. Me. Quiet. A place to enjoy this crazy property God had somehow allowed us to call home. And for a while… that’s exactly what it was.
But it didn’t stay ours very long. The neighbors came. Then friends. Sometimes it was just Carmen and me. Eventually, even our guests began inviting us to come sit around our own firepit with them.
And something happened when people gathered around that fire. Conversations lingered. Stories were shared. People pulled their chairs closer as the evening cooled.
Somewhere along the way, we realized: We thought we had built a firepit. We had actually created a gathering place.
And that made me wonder… What if Carmen hadn’t asked, “What if?”
The Power of a Question
Think about how many things in our lives begin with those two little words.
What if?
“What if I”:
- Called them?
- Forgave them?
- Applied?
- Started?
- Invited them over?
- Volunteered?
- Went back to school?
- Finally had that conversation?
- Stopped saying “I can’t” long enough to ask God…
“Could You?”
Now, not every what-if is from God. I’ve had plenty of ideas God probably looked down on and thought, Scott…let’s not.
And faith isn’t about attaching God’s name to every idea we come up with. It’s about remaining open enough to ask:
“God, is there something here that You see that I don’t?”
That’s a very different kind of ‘what if.‘
Maybe You’ve Stopped Asking
I wonder if one of the things that happens as we get older is that we gradually stop asking what if? What if we’ve…
- Been disappointed before.
- Tried things that didn’t work.
- Taken risks that hurt.
- Prayed prayers that weren’t answered the way we hoped.
- Accumulated enough experience to know all the reasons something can’t happen.
And experience is valuable.
But sometimes experience can also become a fence. We stop dreaming because dreaming feels irresponsible. We stop imagining because imagining feels unrealistic. And we stop stepping out because staying where we are feels safer.
Eventually, instead of asking,
“What if?”
we begin saying, “That’s just the way it is.”
But I wonder how many possibilities God places in front of us that look like nothing more than trees, brush, Palmettos, uneven ground, and a whole lot of work.
You May Not See What God Is Building Yet
Here’s what strikes me when I look back at that little clearing. Carmen could see a firepit. But even she couldn’t see everything that would happen there.
She couldn’t see the neighborhood gatherings, the friendships, our guests sitting around it, or hear the conversations that hadn’t happened yet.
She couldn’t know the stories that would eventually be shared there. But she saw something…and apparently God saw more.
And maybe that’s how faith often works. God doesn’t always show us the entire picture. Sometimes He simply gives us enough vision to take the next step.
Carmen didn’t need to know every person who would eventually sit around that fire. She simply needed enough vision to say: “What if we put a firepit over there?”
And then we needed enough faith to start clearing some brush.
Your Everyday Life
So, what are you looking at right now? Maybe it’s something in your marriage, your family, career, church, neighborhood, finances, or future.
Maybe all you can see is what’s there. The obstacles, the mess, and the work. The reasons it probably won’t happen. I’m not suggesting you ignore any of that. But maybe you could ask God for another perspective.
“God, what do You see here that I don’t?”
Because last week we talked about not becoming so focused on what’s unfinished that we miss what God has already built.
This week…maybe we need to add something:
Don’t become so comfortable with what already exists that you miss what God may still want to build.
There’s beauty in appreciating what is. But there’s also faith in asking, “What if?” Sometimes faith means standing in front of what is while trusting God for what could be. We may not see the finished picture yet—but we know the One who does.
Challenge of the Week
This week, identify one area of your life where you’ve stopped imagining anything different. Don’t make a five-year plan. Don’t quit your job. And don’t spend thousands of dollars. And please…don’t blame me if you suddenly decide you need a firepit.
Just pray one simple prayer: “God, is there something here that You see that I don’t?” Then pay attention. Maybe nothing changes. Or…maybe God begins showing you something. A person, an opportunity, a conversation, a possibility, or a next step.
And if He does…don’t worry about seeing the entire finished picture. Sometimes faith begins with nothing more than looking at a patch of woods…and asking: “What if?” So be it.
What is your journey like?
My journey started like a parallel journey to the Prodigal Son – Luke 15. This, as you can see, is becoming quite the journey. Jump into my journey with me, now 17 weeks along, and see what your journey looks like as we walk life together. Here are the links where you can go back and jump into the journey with me:
- When Love Found Me – This is the introduction to it all.
- Before Love Found Me – God was pursuing me before I knew it.
- God at a Distance – I was looking in the wrong places.
- When God Broke In – God met me in my brokenness.
- After the Tears – Following Jesus became a shared journey.
- Packing Up Faith – Obedience required leaving the familiar.
- Making Room – God transformed our home into a place where others could encounter His love.
- Trusting God’s Hand – Even when it doesn’t make sense.
- When You Think You Need One More Miracle – and no matter what, God does it again!
- From Waiting to Wonder – Sometimes God does His greatest work in places we can’t wait to get out of.
- When God Colors Outside Of The Lines – Creating our own boundaries and limiting God.
- This Is The Way – God is whispering to you, “This is the way, follow Me.”
- Seeing What Others Can’t – When God shows you something that others can’t see…yet.
- Redeeming The Ruins – Where we see ruins, God sees redemption. Discover how He transforms broken places into something beautifully new.
- A Story That Started Before You – Sometimes what we think we’re starting is actually a story God has been writing long before we arrived.
- Ministry is a Firepit – Sometimes ministry is simply making room for others to feel seen, heard, and welcomed.
- “Still” Under Construction – God can use us even while we’re still under construction.
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