IF ONLY I~
Would have
Should Have
Could Have
But I didn't!
But
What IF ONLY I did _____________?
What IF ONLY you did not ____________?
Regret:
Feeling sad
Feeling disappointed
Over a missed opportunity~
To do
the one thing
To receive
the one thing
that
would just change everything.
What if you actually received your
"What IF ONLY"
or you could remove your
"What IF ONLY"~
would it be enough?
I think
IF ONLY
was invented by the Israelites
after their
"What IF ONLY"
came true~
to be set free from their captivity in Egypt.
Well...
God heard their
IF ONLY
cries
and set them free
when He sent Moses...
“Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘
This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go..." Exodus 4-14
IF ONLY
Pharaoh would have listened the first time
but
10 times
10 plagues later
including the death of his first born
before
he listened
and
set the captives free
IF ONLY...
And
now the Israelites'
IF ONLY
came true
but
then their
IF ONLY
changed...
"IF ONLY
we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” Exodus 16:3
When the going got tough
the tough got going
back to where they wanted to be away from
because
it was familiar
it was easier
then
to have to persevere
when the going got tough.
Have you every been there~
Your "what IF ONLY" has become a reality
but then it gets hard
and you want to run back
to ________?
But
IF ONLY
they
IF ONLY
you had paid attention to My commands
your peace would have been like a river
your well-being like the waves of the sea. Isaiah 48:18
IF ONLY
we would always
believe
what God says
the moment before doubts set in~
when the tough gets going.
But God has sent
His Word
all through the old Testament
then
His Word
His First Born
in the New Testament
who had to die
like Pharaoh's first born
which set the wheels in motion
for me and for you
to be set free,
the moment
when Jesus
was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah.
And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
IF ONLY
everyone believed.
Then He closed the book,
and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.
And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them,
“Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:17-21
The
ONLY
"IF ONLY"
came true,
because
His is
the answer
to all of your
What IF ONLYs~
especially when the tough gets going...
Don't get going
back to your Egypt,
instead....
press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do:
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:12-14
And then
your peace WILL BE like a river
your well-being WILL BE like the waves of the sea.
Isaiah 48:18 (paraphrased)