Say Goodbye To "What If? And "If Only!"

Hi Everyone,

I have all kinds of posts to try to get up in the next few days about various things. One thing I am thinking of lately is a saying we have here in Mexico. In Spanish it is "Hubiera no existe" which translates to 'What if does not exist."

I really like that saying because there is some truth to it. Sometimes when something hard happens or we fail in some way, we can start thinking. "If only I would have done such and such," or we can easily get into that regret mindset of "What if the situation wouldn't have happened?" etc.

The truth reflected in the Spanish saying is that walking down the "if only" road leads us to what a dear friend of mine calls "stinking thinking." It simply is not helpful, productive, or beneficial to us. If we keep continually thinking that way, we go down a road of discouragement thinking of what might have been instead of dealing with life in the present as it is and seeking what God wants to teach us through it. Thinking "if only" robs us of the joy that God wants us to experience in Him TODAY. We can't change the past--but we have been given the gift of today.

Everybody has things they either prefer wouldn't have happened or sins and failures that can give them a temptation to think "if only." But instead of thinking, "if only" we have to give them to God.

I also find in my life that I don't need to say,"if only" getting stuck in a world of regret because I have seen a glimpse of how God has taken sins, other things that I am not proud of, and even some things that maybe I wouldn't have preferred to have happen---and God has turned them into good. There isn't room to regret because God is working it into something beautiful.

So trust that God is working it all together for good according to His purposes---and all means ALL THINGS. He has promised that to those who love Him. And say goodbye to "if only."