Pause or Rewind

I saw this sign on Facebook:

Without any deep thought, I immediately commented ‘Rewind.’

We can all think of events that have happened and decisions we’ve made that we wish we could have over. If I’d only . . .

If I’d only . . . We writers have vivid imaginations. We can easily imagine how our lives would have been so much better if we’d only . . . We’d be wealthy today, or we’d be great golfers or movie stars or whatever.

As I continued through more Facebook posts, I couldn’t get the question out of my mind. Would I really want either button? Would my life be any better if I’d hit ‘Rewind’ and done such and such over again?

God knows before I get there which turn I’m going to make. He knows my every decision before I do. He manages—in some way I can’t even imagine—to weave all my good and bad decisions together, all my left turns and right turns and straight aheads, all my good moves and bad ones, and lead me where He wants me to be. And He does all that without violating my own free will.

If I could go back and do this over again, I wouldn’t have ended up over there, and if I hadn’t been over there, He couldn’t have done that. What gives me the temerity to think I could improve on God’s plan by taking “overs” on some decision or action or event. Heaven forbid.

On second thought, I think I’ll pass on either of the buttons offered. I’ve managed to make a mess of my life, but God has managed to work through that mess to bring me where He wants me to be. What could be better that that?

What “If I’d only’s” do you think about now and then? How sure are you that you’d be better off today if you could do them over?

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.