Woulda Coulda Shoulda

Woulda Coulda Shoulda                                          02-05-16

2 Kings 13:18-19 (ESV) ¹⁸  And he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground with them.” And he struck three times and stopped.
¹⁹  Then the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times.”

If you have a favorite sports team then the above title will make perfect sense to you. As most of you I am sure are aware, my blood runs orange. I love my Vols.That being said, I unfortunately, have been forced to employ the title to my message on far too many occasions in my conversation during the recent past. Huh??? Here's what I mean. In explaining around the water cooler the reasons my beloved Vols lost the big game my excuses went something like this: "If they woulda done this, if they coulda done that, and my favorite armchair observation, they SHOULDA done that!!" If only they woulda,coulda,shoulda......they woulda won the game. All you armchair QB's can I get an Amen here?! That being said......

I was reminded of the above Scripture because of something I heard this week about an answer to prayer. Here is the gist of it. A friend was praying this week about a certain financial issue and he decided to ask God for more. More you say? Yes, more. If I have it right, he prayed something like this, "God this amount would be enough and I don't want to be greedy, but this amount would REALLY be nice. It would be MORE than enough." Well, lo and behold, in this instance God granted the request and my friend was amply blessed and supplied.PTL

The above Scripture has much in common with what happened to my friend except it revolves around the negative aspect.Read the whole story to get a good handle on it. Joash was concerned about the Syrian army(hmmm interesting) and inquired of the man of God about what to do.Elisha told him to strike the ground which Joash did. Only problem is he STOPPED after three times. Angered, Elisha replied that Joash SHOULD'VE  struck the ground five or six times. Had Joash done that Elisha went on to say, Joash WOULD'VE put an end to Syria. Joash COULD'VE solved all of his Syrian problems if only he WOULD'VE asked for more by striking the ground five or six times. You seein it?

Isn't that the way it is with us many times? We have a need. Or maybe it's not really a need, but a want or a desire. But we, maybe like Joash, are half hearted. Maybe we have listened to the voice of the enemy and are discouraged or intimidated about spreading our requests before the Lord. But, God has already invited us into His presence through the Lord Jesus Christ hasn't He?

Hebrews 4:16 (ESV) ¹⁶  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Not only that He WANTS us to TRUST Him with our needs and wants in every aspect of our lives,spiritual,material and physical.

Philippians 4:6 (ESV) ⁶  do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Look at and remember word six in the above passage.

 It's not a matter of whether God WANTS to bless and heal us is it? It's not a matter of whether God WANTS to give to us "pressed down, shaken together, and running over is it? No, no.Well then,what is it a matter of Ronnie? Here's my take.

It's not the WHAT that we ask for, it's the WHO and WHY that we ask for it.

It's a matter of the intent and motivation of the heart. We,above all, must believe and know that He is God. We have many available options don't we? We can believe in the world and try to obtain it the world's way. We can become self assured and boast in our hearts that we will obtain it in our own strength. Or, we can believe God.

Hebrews 11:6 (ESV) ⁶  And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 

Add to that, this.

James 4:3 (ESV) ³  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

You might want to read the preceding two verses to get a fuller revelation of what God is saying here.

Brothers and sisters, God is a BIG God. He can do "exceedingly, above all that we ask or think...." We need only believe in Him and believe according to His will. I will leave you with this amusing(to me) and true anecdote dealing with yours truly.

Some years ago I was with a few of my male church friends at a men's breakfast. You know how it goes. We were all chewing the fat both literally and figuratively and the conversation rolled around to what we would do if we won the lottery. (smile)
And to be sure as we allowed ourselves of indulging in the fantasy, the very same "humanitarian" reasons all surfaced. I believe they are common to all mankind.(big smile) Here it is.

"If I won the lottery I would.........

1) Pay off all my bills and do whatever...you fill in your own blank.Keep enough so that I would never have to work again if I didn't want to.

2) Take care of all my family so they would never have to work again

3) Give my tithe to the Church. Heck, I would give 20%!!!

4) Give to any number of my favorite charities etc., etc.,

And the "creme de la creme" I believe my French is correct.

5) But, I wouldn't let it change me one bit!! Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

As I was driving back home that day STILL enamored of the fantasy of being a lottery winner, a still, small voice entered my head and this is what it said to your's truly. I have not forgotten it to this day.

"I will let you win the lottery if you can say to me from your heart that you will give it ALL away."

Taken aback, I thought about that for a while, while still driving. After what seemed an eternity, but what was in reality a few minutes I quietly lipped the words "what's the point then?" The one word answer. "Exactly."

That forever has squelched my fantasies of the 136 million in this week's Powerball!! LOL.

If we just woulda,He coulda. 

 Psalm 37:4 (ESV) ⁴  Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.


Psalm 37:25 (ESV) ²⁵  I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.



God Bless