If Only...

I heard a message recently that dealt with just two words: "if only." Two very simple words that affect you and I more than we may even realize. This simple phrase is one of the most leading thoughts I know. It's a wanting statement in search of an answer. Sometimes the person using it doesn't even know the thing for which they're searching.

Here's just a few I can think of: If only I had a better job, bigger house, nicer car, more friends, significant other, etc. The list goes on and on, but at its core it's a statement of incompletion. The second you say or think "If only..." you are stating that you are somehow incomplete. What ever you have it's not enough.

This idea hits a bit too close for home at times for me. If you know me, you know that I'm not one to be complacent about most anything. This can be both good and bad. But at the heart of it, I admit, there's a pursuit of something more than what I have today.

The pastor that delivered the message boiled it down to this, we all deal with the "if only" scenarios. But one definite way to squelch those flames is to just be content. To be thankful for the things you have today, right now. That might be easier said than done for some, but it's true.