If only....

If only:

I could buy a house

I could lose weight

I could get married

I could get out of debt

I could have a baby

I could get a better job

I could make more money

If only. By our very nature, we are never satisfied. Our flesh wants what it wants when it wants. Those two little words can cloud our view on the way we see our lives in terms of having "arrived." Surely, once we accomplish all these things, we will be happy or at least content. They cause us to focus on what's missing in our lives rather than what we have. Those two words can keep us from living a life with a purpose right now. They can cause us to live in a continual defeated mode because sometimes "if only" may never happen. What then? None of the "if only" wishes are wrong within themselves, in fact, most of them are everybody's list. But they can also be a stumbling block to ourselves and those around us. They can make us feel like somehow we are not where we are supposed to be or maybe our life can't possibly be complete. Those two words can cause bitterness and resentment to set in as we look around and see that everybody else is marking their "if only" wishes off their list at lightening speed." The truth of the matter is that if we were able to check off everything off our list, we still would not be satisfied. We would probably just make another list to measure the quality of our lives. We would need to accomplish just a few more more things before we felt like we have arrived at the destination that we are sure we belong at and our lives will be completely fulfilled. If only. Don't let those two small words rob you of the joy of where you are today.

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

Phillipians 4:11