If Only

My mind runs ahead of me all day everyday. As I’m washing dishes or folding laundry, eating my breakfast or driving, if I’m not engaged in conversation (and sometimes even when I am) I am thinking ahead. I’m making plans with contingencies for every possibility I can imagine.

When everything is going according to plan, I run further ahead. It never hurts to be prepared, right? However, when the course veers or a roadblock appears, I begin to mentally backtrack, first to see where my calculations went awry and secondly, to pick my re-entry point. Thankfully things don’t always go as I’ve imagined. Most of the time, they’re better. God is in the details and He’s working all things for good.

After seventy years in Babylon, the exiles were allowed to return to Judah and Jerusalem with the king’s commission and provision to rebuild the temple of the God of Israel.

“When the builders completed the foundation of the Lord’s Temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites, descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the Lord, just as King David had prescribed.

With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the Lord:

“He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!”

Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had been laid.

But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation.

The others, however, were shouting for joy. The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance.”

Ezra 3:10-13 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/ezr.3.10-13.NLT

Amid the shouts of joy echoed two tiny words, “if only,” carrying in their wake the vacuous imaginings of the older priests and Levites. Their memories of the splendor of Solomon’s Temple kept them from being fully alive in this moment. Their weeping mingled with the shouts of joy of those who saw the hand of God moving kings even as their hands had moved wood and stone to rebuild this structure to honor the God of heaven.

It was never about the splendor of the building. When Solomon dedicated the temple and the Spirit of the Lord filled the space, the priests had to stop their work because God’s Spirit eclipsed everything else. The entirety of the Bible is God revealing Himself to us. It’s always all about God! When I am so fixated on my plans and expectations, when I allow my own imaginings to become my focus, I miss the splendor that is Immanuel, God with us.

If anyone ever had justifiable cause to utter “if only,” it was Joseph. Songwriters have captured his plight beautifully in the lyrics of Christmas music played each year, but consider instead the question posed by 4Him in their song, “Strange Way To Save The World.”

“Just think of how it could have been

If Jesus had come as He deserved

There would have been no Bethlehem

No lowly shepherds at His birth.”

“This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.

“Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”

When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.”

Matthew 1:18-24 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.1.18-23.NLT

Joseph made his plan- to divorce Mary quietly- but even as he thought it through, the angel brought the incredible news and Joseph immediately altered course and obeyed. Only God knows the thoughts in a man’s heart, but never once does Joseph object to the angelic messengers’ directives. He simply and swiftly obeyed. Even when the order is to run, he wakes Mary and Jesus in the night and takes them to Egypt until Herod’s reign is ended. Joseph excels at obedience. He doesn’t question.

How much angst could I spare myself if I decided to be more like Joseph? I am reminded of my late father-in-law. He, too, was a carpenter and a man of action. He displayed a then popular slogan on his truck’s front bumper, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” He lived a fairly simple life and most everything for him was cut and dried. You always knew where he stood on things. He was a man of principle and of faith. The week he passed away from advanced stage cancer, he was still making plans to be in church on Sunday. Even in suffering, his focus remained on his Lord and Savior.

Heavenly Father,

Your word says, “You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.” (Proverbs 19:21) If I’m honest, that’s exactly what I want anyway!

I want to know and obey Your will. Walk with me, Jesus, as You walked with Your first followers. You told them it was better for them if You returned to the Father because they would receive the Spirit as Comforter and Advocate to be with them always. You promise never to leave or forsake Your children.

I trust You, Lord, without reservation. Forgive me for running ahead when the path before me is being lit step by step by Your Spirit and Your word. Help me to abide in You.

In Jesus’s name I ask. Amen.