If only…Next time…



If only…Next time…

A young man who had made it “big” had been away from home a long time traveling to exotic places all over the world.  He had not been very attentive to his widowed mother.  His conscience began to bother him and he decided to do something about it.  He sent her a unique gift, a rare South American parrot for which he'd paid $100,000. That may seem like a lot, but the parrot had received some very special training. A team of Bible teachers had taught him to repeat every scripture of the Bible. All you had to do was to call out a book, chapter and verse and he would quote it. Pretty amazing and very expensive. Well, time went by.  Two weeks, three weeks, and he heard nothing from his mother.  The fourth week he finally gave up waiting and called.  When he got his mom on the phone he said, "Did you get the bird I sent you?"  "Oh yes!--It was so nice, I cooked it the day after it came.  It was delicious!"  "You cooked it!  Mom, that was a rare South American parrot. That parrot could repeat every verse of the Bible. It cost me $100,000!” "My goodness, son," the mother responded.  "If only he had said something."

If only!...

We hear it all the time.  If only I hadn't had that accident.  If only I'd lived in some other place.  If only I were more beautiful.  If only he had not died so young.  If only people were friendlier to me.  If only I had more money.  If only I were younger.  If only I were older.  If only I had a different kind of job.  If only people really knew my abilities. If only I had been able to tell them I loved them one more time. --and it goes, on and on.  If only…

We're going to talk about that today, but we're going to talk about it in the context of an alternative mindset:  next time.  There's a world of difference between "if only" and "next time." "If only" looks backward… "next time" is a look forward.  "If only" is a word of defeat; "next time" is a word of hope.

One of the texts which we are looking today in Isaiah 43. It is a good one we should consider as we begin this New Year.  Listen as he quotes God speaking in verse 19, "Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it?" I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert."

I don't know how it is with you, but I like new beginnings.  It doesn't matter whether it's a new year, a new month, a new week, a new day--a new experience--I like new beginnings.  I'm glad for the chance to start again.  That's the reason I wanted to begin what we say today in this passage of scripture from Isaiah about God and new things.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.”

It is against this background of God intervening in history, a God who is always doing a new thing--it's against that background that I want us to look at two approaches to life--If Only and Next Time.

“If Only…” Looks backward- Have you ever known someone whose life was so consumed by regret that they could not see the good or positive in anything? It is a life weighed down by “If Onlys”. If only I had done this or that, or had not done this thing or that thing.

The misery, the tragedy of dwelling in the past is that we cannot change a thing. Wishing things were different changes nothing.

“If Only…” are Words of defeat- When we stay focused on failings and shortcomings of the past, we are letting ourselves be defeated. We are letting Satan defeat us for today by allowing ourselves to be defined by the “If Onlys” of our past. We are defeated because we do not allow ourselves to look forward. And what does worrying about the past do for us?

Luke 12:25 “And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span?”

To illustrate this idea of the difference being positive instead of negative, there is an interesting story about an encounter Thomas Jefferson had during his presidency.

During his days as president, Thomas Jefferson and a group of companions were traveling across the country on horseback. They came to a river which had left its banks because of a recent downpour. The swollen river had washed the bridge away. Each rider was forced to ford the river on horseback, fighting for his life against the rapid currents. The very real possibility of death threatened each rider, which caused a traveler who was not part of their group to step aside and watch. After several had plunged in and made it to the other side, the stranger asked President Jefferson if he would ferry him across the river. The president agreed without hesitation. The man climbed on, and shortly thereafter the two of them made it safely to the other side.  As the stranger slid off the back of the saddle onto dry ground, one in the group asked him, "Tell me, why did you select the president to ask this favor of?" The man was shocked, admitting he had no idea it was the president who had helped him. "All I know," he said, "Is that on some of your faces was written the answer 'No,' and on some of them was the answer 'yes.' His was a 'Yes' face."

Looking forward to how the “Next Time” might be different gives us the demeanor of yes on our faces and in our hearts too.

“Next Time…” Looks forward- When we begin to think about how we might do things different in the future, we are facing forward. We can learn from the past without being a captive of it. When we consider how we might be more disciplined, or loving, or forgiving in the “Next Time”, we are focusing on how to make things better. That is a positive outlook.

“Next Time…” Words of hope- When we think about how things might be different in the “Next Time”, we are hoping for better outcomes. When we come to salvation in Christ, we can have hope. Hope in the knowledge that our sins are forgiven. Romans 15:12 says, “And again Isaiah says, There shall come the root of Jesse, and He who arises to rule over the Gentiles, In Him shall the Gentiles hope.” And in Romans 6:4 “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

It is important as Christians to be focused forward on “Next Times”, not backwards on “If Onlys”.

I found a poem by an unknown author that sums up well why we need to focus on the “Next Times”:

When I stand at the judgment seat of Christ

And He shows me His plan for me;

The plan of my life as it might have been

Had He had His way, and I see

How I blocked Him here and I checked Him there

And I would not yield my will,

Shall I see grief in my Savior's eyes;

Grief though He loves me still?

Oh, He'd have me rich, and I stand there poor,

Stripped of all but His grace,

While my memory runs like a hunted thing

Down the paths I can't retrace.

Then my desolate heart will well-nigh break

With tears that I cannot shed.

I'll cover my face with my empty hands

And bow my uncrowned head.

No. Lord of the years that are left to me

I yield them to Thy hand.

Take me, make me, mold me

To the pattern Thou hast planned.

God is always up to something wonderful and new. If we are trapped in the “If Onlys” of our life we can miss out on God’s best not only for our lives, but for those who He might use us to touch.

If we turn our “If Onlys” into “Next Times”, we can live lives like Paul in Philippians 3:13.

Many pause at this time of the year and make New Year’s resolutions. Have you thought about some? I think New Year’s resolutions can be really good. “If Only” I had kept some of them…oops, there I go. Mine have included weight loss, not saying bad words, praying more, daily devotionals… and so on. How about you? Made a few…broke most? I like new beginnings. Like the beginning of a New Year we observe today.

I pray that we are all looking forward to serving Him in the coming year, that we will be able to let go of the regrets and failures of the past and let Him strengthen and guide us in the “Next Times” of 2006.

Let’s pray.

Invitation.

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