If only...

Another gray day. It is one of those days when the clouds have set in. The sky doesn't want to rain and yet the sun doesn't want to shine. It is a day when people become a little grumpy and start to growl at one another. If only the clouds would part. If only the sun would shine. If only...

We spend a lot of time with the "if only." If only this would happen. If only I could do that. If only I would get the new job. If only the doctor would find out what is wrong. If only I would have turned left instead of right. If only I would have stayed in bed an extra 10 minutes. If only I would have gotten out of bed 10 minutes earlier. If only...

I would challenge you to think differently. Don't spend your time with those things that might have happened or could have happened or might have gone differently. Spend your time and effort living where you are now. Yes, make plans for the future. Have a goal or three. Have a direction you are going but don't spend your time looking backward. Look forward. Paul writes, "One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Chris Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14 ESV) The writer to the Hebrews says, "...let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings to closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith." (Hebrews 12:1b-2a ESV) Looking forward to what is coming rather than looking behind (if only), we move forward each day.

The goal? Living in Christ. Living each day in our Lord we lay our "if onlys" at His feet, ask Him to forgive those things where we have failed or sinned and to bless us as we follow Him into a new day. We all have those moments, sometimes many of them, in which we were not living for Him but the joyous news is that He went to the cross for us, for our sins, for our if onlys. Look not to what you might have done differently to what He is doing in you. Be guided by the Spirit through Word and Sacrament to live in Christ. 

Yes there will always be an "if only" in your life. The One that is bigger that your "if only" is Christ. He overcomes each one of them and gives you a "now in Me" for your day. Now in Christ, you can move forward, learning from the mistakes, failures and sins, and living in Him. All praise be to God for the gift of His Son Jesus Christ and for the faith given to each of us through the water and the Word. 

Now, let's face today with the confidence that comes through the One who has already walked this road and leads us through the Valley daily.