I've been amused lately by the recent headlines about "What if Lincoln had survived?" Seems that many in the scientific community say that had President Lincoln been shot in our day and time, he would have survived. My feeling about that? Who cares? Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I think he was one of the most sage leaders of any of our presidents. He served at one of, if not the most difficult times in our nation's history. But the fact is, he didn't survive. We can't go back and speculate, we can't go back and change things.
It's the way many people live their lives. They live in the "if only I had..." The past is, well, past. It's over. There's not a thing we can do about it. Paul tells us to forget about the past and press on. There are a lot of things about the past that I am not proud of. There are a lot of things I've done in the past that I feel are pretty good. But if I dwell on those things, nothing will ever get done again. We have today. That's it. We can dream about tomorrow. But we might as well live in the present and serve the One who deserves all of our devotion and worship. Fretting about the past changes nothing. Pressing on today results in action. Press on. Strain toward what is ahead. And by the way, have a great day. JW
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I completely agree with you - we spend too much time dwelling on woulda, coulda, shoulda. We let the past paralyze us at times, or at least keep us from being who God means us to be. I think it is one of the ways Satan works. As Christians, dwelling on our past sins cripple us and prevent us from seeing the plan God has for us. We're fools not to learn from our mistakes, but then move on.
On another note, it's true that medicine has REALLY advanced in even the past hundred years. I don't think there's anyone who disagrees - we're more comfortable now, we live longer, and expect to. What would have been seen as miracles even 50 years ago are common procedures today. That being said, can we definitively say he would have survived? I mean, not to be overly personal about this, but my husband's uncle just had hernia surgery a few weeks ago. The surgery went well and then an hour or 2 later, he just died. He was in good health. It is not modern medicine, doctors, nurses, healers, etc. who have the ability to ultimately grant and take away life, it is God. We can follow the formula of healing the body, but it is God who makes this pile of flesh and bones a living, breathing, thinking being.
It reminds me of horticulture in college. (I registered late the first semester and that was all that was left!) I successfully followed the instructions for grafting and received an "A," but everything died on me. I'm sure there was something missing, but my professor couldn't tell what I did wrong either. I think that's just a reminder that life is God's to give, period.
Thanks for always inspiring thought, Jim. Love you, brother :)
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