"If Only..."

"If only I would not have married that man, my life would not have been so difficult." "If only I had not become a Pastor, I would have had more time for my family." "If only we would not have left Pennsylvania to move to Mississippi, I would have more friends." Many of us can identify with falling into the trap of "If only..."

In Numbers 14, the children of Israel are frightened because of the report they received from the spies who went to check out the land of Canaan. They had been told that the people were stronger and they were afraid to take the land. So now they go back to Moses and Aaron and complain. "If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!(v.2)" God is the one who lead them there and promised this land to them after taking them out of Egypt. How easy it was for them to turn around and complain because the job of taking the land was going to be a more difficult than they thought. God would be with them but they wanted it to be easy.

My husband and I moved to Mississippi from Pennsylvania so he could attend a seminary that gave housing assistance to families. We prayed and asked the Lord's guidance in that decision and went believing it was what He wanted us to do. After getting there, it was tough. We and our children left friends we loved, a church family we loved, and a job I had which I enjoyed.
I was miserable after we got there. I began to think "If only..." By the Lord's grace and counsel from some Godly people, I realized we were right where we needed to be even though it was hard.

As the Israelites took their eyes off the Lord, they focused on their difficulties. We do the same thing even today. Let us remember what the Lord told Joshua, "Be strong and of good courage, do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9)"