"If Only You Had"

 "Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." (John 11:21 KJV)

  "They even spoke against God himself, saying, "God can't give us food in the wilderness. Yes, he can strike a rock so water gushes out, but he can't give his people bread and meat."" (Psalm 78:19-20 NLT)

 This is one of those verses that causes us to ponder those things we might have done or not done, as to, 'If only it happened this way, then things would be better.' Maybe it is me, because I have a multitude of things I which I would have done differently, and a mountain of garbage I wish I never had done. Be that as it may, God is more than able to make something out of anything, or out of nothing at all!

 Talking about this verse, it should move us to look at those things we might have asked God to do, and then what He does, seems as if it was pretty much opposite of what we expected. You know what I mean; you ask God to give you peace, and then your life gets turned upside-down! You ask Him to strengthen your faith, and your doubt becomes so intense, you feel as though you should just stop believing, all together.  

 Take a close look at these two verses from Psalm 78, because there is a major difference between that which God does and what we expect that He should do! We can realize how this works by those two times Jesus fed thousands of people, by the few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. 

 Basically, there are things which are meant to satisfy what we need, and then there are those things which we want, that might take away from what we actually need. God will always provide for us that which we need! Those things we might want, may not be in line with what we actually need; but, if we press Him hard enough, we might end up with that which we want; but then, that which we need will be change into something we do not want. 

 Don't let that cause you any confusion, because it isn't really that hard to understand. The main thing that I want to talk about, is that God can and will take anything you might do, whatever it is and how far off the mark it might become, and He can get you right back where you belong, which is right next to Him! 

 The bottom line in this, or any situation or circumstance, is that where you might be, no matter how bad it might be, is the place where you might belong, because God is doing something with you that requires you to be broken, undone, messed up, or giving up...

"Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me - now let me rejoice. Don't keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don't take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you." (Psalm 51:7-13 NLT)