"If I Knew Then What I Know Now....."

"If I Knew Then What I Know Now....Would you _______????" (fill in the blank)

A dangerously delicate and loaded question, isn't it? I've toyed with this question a lot the last week for reasons I won't delve into. I would caution anyone reading this not to ask this question if you are not truly prepared for any possible answer, including the one you'd least expect.

Do we ask because we wonder what our lives would have been like if we really knew what it would be like BEFORE we had to make a choice? or would we make no choice at all?

Do we ask because we'd choose another path, the one without resistance, pain and heartache?

Do we ask because we need validation?

Do we ask because we have insecurity and need affirmation?

Do we ask because we really want the truth?

Be careful.......the truth can set you free, but it can also paralyze you.......

I know firsthand how much freedom comes with truth,

and also how absolutely devastating the truth can be.

The truth can cut you like a knife......

The truth can release you from the bondage of sin.

The truth CAN set you free.......

The truth can feel like a gut-wrenching punch that steals your breath away.

The truth can steal your security....

The truth can make everything you thought you knew, be a lie.

The truth is......life hurts.

The truth is......life is hard.

The truth is.....it takes pain to grow.

The truth is.....suffering makes us more like Christ.

If I Knew Then What I Know Now, Would I......

• treat my mom differently knowing she was going to die at 60?
• would I say "I'm sorry" and mean it?
• would I offer forgiveness sooner (because it truly does set you free)
• would I be less stubborn?
• waited til my mid-30s to have children?
• married my ex-husband?
• adopted twice?
• moved "South?"
• become "Baptist?"
• run from God instead of towards God?

.....and the list goes on an on.......and each of us have our own "list" of choices we've made that have defined and shaped our lives.

Every choice we've had to make over the years, every crossroad life has delivered us to EXACTLY where we are today. God has woven an incredible tapestry called "life" in each of our lives and we are exactly where He wants us to be; even though it may not be where WE want to be. God doesn't make mistakes...He brings good out of everything.

It may not seem it at the moment, when the pain is running deep.

Yet God heals......

and that's what I'm holding on to..........