'If Only...'

1/21/2020

I Was Thinking…

We often think in terms of ‘if only…’. ‘If only I were rich…’ ‘If only I were successful…’ ‘If only I were an athlete…’ ‘If only I were young again…’ ‘If only I were king/queen…’ ‘If only I were a prince or a princess…’

The recent news from Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan is sort of a reverse ‘If only’. The couple has requested and been granted a path to become ‘ordinary’ civilians. The pressure to be a royal couple is quite painful, it seems. Queen Elizabeth has stated, “I recognize the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life.” (AJC, 1/20/2020) Maybe being a Prince and Princess isn’t all we think it to be.

It was Corina Negura who said, “Not all donuts have a hole and not all holes have donuts around them, so every mistake is relative, and every perfection is subjective.” (www.goodreads.com) To live in an ‘if only’ world is dangerous. It is the same kind of world that buys into the falsehood that ‘the grass is greener on the other side of the fence’. When the reality is that the grass is greener where we fertilize it.

It was the Apostle Paul who wrote to the early Christians to say that he had “learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:11b-13, NRSV)

I encourage us to grow in our thinking and living in ways that are mature. To live in the state of ‘If only’ is ripe for frustration and disappointment. Yes, we should have goals and dreams that draw us to fulfillment but until we are fulfilled in the present, wherever we may arrive we will find the same emptiness the ‘If only’ lifestyle promotes.

I read just this week a quote by an anonymous author that has stuck with me. “People have a lot to say about lives they’ve never lived”. Until we have walked where others walk and have journeyed through their journey, we really can’t say, and we really don’t know. Let’s be kind to ourselves and to others and realize that ALL of life is relative.

God loves you my friends. Do something good for the Kingdom this week. It is the only life you have…live it in abundant ways!

Always Thinking…