Exodus 4:1 But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?”

There are several facts that most people know about Moses. Most know that he was a miracle baby. His mother rescued his life by placing him in a basket in the river and God providently supplied pharaoh’s daughter to find him and raise him. We know that Moses was well educated after being raised in pharaoh’s house. We know that Moses was a murderer; he slew an Egyptian soldier and then ran out of town. We know that he spend the next 40 years of his life serving his father-in-law as a shepherd. If Moses had let his fears talk him out of God’s ultimate plan for his life, then his legacy would be one of shame.

Moses’ contemplation of his what-if’s almost cost him everything. When we think of Moses today, we know the facts about him that I just mentioned but that is not how he is most commonly remembered. He is remembered and discussed most as a deliverer of His people. His identity shifted from what he had done to what God did through Him because he did not succumb to the what-ifs in his life. Did you know that God wants to shift your identity as well? God does not want you to be known just by what you have done. He wants you to be known by what He has done for you and wants to do through you. That is true for you, for me, and its true for every person on the planet.

What keeps people from embracing this monumental change that God wants to bring to our lives? People often forfeit the change God wants to bring because they spend their lives contemplating what-if. What if my friends forsake me for following Jesus? What if it costs me more than I am willing to give? What if He leads me to go somewhere or speak to someone I would rather avoid? What if my past is too bad to be used by God today? There are a thousand what-ifs that keep people from following Jesus.

Like Moses, God wants to give you some new defining moments in your life. What if you stepped out and trusted Him in new ways today? What if you were known not by what you have done wrong in the past but rather you were known by the good God is doing through you today? What if you were not known by all the things you messed up, but instead you exhibited the fruit of all that Jesus did right? That is exactly the invitation that Jesus is making to you today.

Don’t let your what-ifs keep you from allowing God to redefine your life. He wants to exchange your what-if for a certain future. Isaiah 43:25 says, “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” God wants to trade your past for a clean present and promising future. Don’t let your what-ifs keep you from allowing God to redefine your life.

Today’s Challenge: Everyone has past mistakes and sins that haunt them. What if those things could be forgiven and forgotten. They can be. As far as the east is from the west is how far God wants to remove your past identity from you. What if you trusted Him today? What if you obeyed what His Spirit and His Word says to your heart? I am convinced you would discover a new identify that far outshines your past.