IF ONLY

February 20, 2014

Before now, after every speaking engagement, I would start agonizing inwardly over stupid things I had said or over clever things I didn’t say but ought to have said. I would start saying in my mind, “why didn’t I share this other perspective,” “if only I had said it this way…” Sometimes, hours later, I would still be playing the regrets in my mind. “If only” is a phrase that is so commonly used by all irrespective of age/color/gender/location.

However, the trouble with “if only” is that it doesn’t change anything. As a matter of fact, it keeps the person facing the wrong way and wasting time which results in loss of faith and enthusiasm. In John 11, where the Bible talks about the death of Lazarus, when Martha saw Jesus, she said, “Lord, if only you had come earlier, my brother would not have died.”

I thought she was going to end it like that as that might have been the end of Lazarus, but she realized that “if only” won’t generate any meaningful result so she quickly said, “But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.” Immediately Jesus heard that, He said it affirmatively, “Thy brother shall rise again,” and the man that has been dead for four days came back to life.

I don’t know for how many years “if only” has been your daily worship song. If only I was white; if only I was American; if only I was tall; if only…. Please shift your focus from what has happened to what is going to happen next. Brother Paul said in Php 3:13 that, “but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.”

As you go about this season, stop brooding over your regrets and mistakes, live again, try again, and press forward. Never get hung-up on “if only”, forget it and get ready for the next time. Enjoy!

Follow on twitter @Iamhenrylong 

BBM: 2ADE79BA