"If" is a small word that some people say we shouldn't use. But I want to look at a different side of the word "if." Did you know that the "ifs" in your life can become your triumphs - if you will only believe God?
That's what Jesus told Martha. He said, "If you would only believe, you would see the glory of God." God can take any situation in your life and turn it around to your good - if you'll only trust Him and believe that He is able to do it.
No matter what circumstance you face in life, God can turn it around! You hear people say all the time, "If only I'd done this or that," "If only my folks had treated me differently," or "If only I hadn't been born on the wrong side of the tracks." Probably every person on earth has some "What ifs" and "If onlys" in his or her life.
But when you focus on the "ifs" in your life, you are hindering your own success. Instead of looking at the negative circumstances in your life all the time, why not focus on the positive circumstances? Focus on what you do have - not on what you don't have. What are your assets? What are your talents? Make use of what you have, and commit to God what you don't have.
Learn to change your "ifs" to possibilities rather than to impossibilities. Learn to change the negatives to positives. Then instead of being hindered in life by the "What ifs" and eventually failing, you will find yourself succeeding.
Actually, the "ifs" in your life give you a great opportunity to prove that the Word of God works. You can organize your defeat into victory. It's your responsibility to take the Word of God and stand on the promises of God so He can turn every "If only" and "What if" into a victory!
A woman once said to a minister, "If only my family weren't like they are. They mock me for trying to live for God. If only you understood my circumstances."
This preacher looked at her and said, "Never mind about your circumstances. Put God between you and your circumstances!"
The woman returned a few days later and said to the minister, "You know, I found out that if I would change the 'If only' in my life to 'If only I would believe,' everything would change."
God can change those defeats in your life and turn them into victories! God can take any situation and turn it around. Instead of dwelling on the negative side of "if," get on the positive side of "if" - if you will believe, you will see the glory of God!
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications