I can think of a lot of "if only's" that would no doubt have changed things...I just wonder how.
If only my family had stayed in one place when I was growing up...where would I be now and who would I be with?
If only I had chosen to remain in the Air Force another 10 years...what new places would we have seen and interesting people would we have met?
If only I had stayed with the church in (name one) for another year...how would my faith have grown (or not) and how likely would it have been to become a lifelong place to live/work?
If only we had put (X) dollars aside each month beginning (X)...how much would we have by now and how would it change the future?
While it isn't healthy to live in the "if only" world all the time it is certainly appropriate to at least consider it once in a while. We can't ever go back and change the "if only's" but we can learn from them about our future. I can look back at several if only's in my life and see some pretty obvious lessons that will guide my future decision. I can laugh at the silliness of those if only's and recognize that when my life is truly given over to God , the if only's are nothing more times I hesitated to let Him lead.
The book of Esther is an amazing book of trust. It contains some if only's that we probably should look at very closely. But the most famous passage from that book is one that should help us put aside all the "if only's" in our lives when we finally get to the point of allowing the Lord to do with us as He sees fit. That passage, uttered by Esther's cousin Mordecai is simply, "...who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14b).
It would be easy to say, "Yeah, but I'm not royalty!" but that misses the point. The truth is, each one of us, because we have been adopted by our great God is royalty! But beyond that, we have each been granted a particular place, job, spouse, children, home, etc., by the Creator and Savior of the world. And while we may not be 100% happy with our "place" in life; while we may very well play a lot of "what if" games; we don't know what He has in mind for us. We probably won't be able to see why it's so important that we live in a particular place or meet a specific person until well after that time is gone.
So perhaps...instead of concentrating on the "what if's" that have passed us by...we need to be saying to the Lord, "Help me see Your grand plan for my life and how You are using me right where I am so that YOU receive the glory You deserve." If only every one of us treated every moment of every day like that...I wonder what life would be like?
