If You Could... But You Can't

INTRODUCTION: **CLICK**

We all want to change things in life.

We wish we could do something over.

Do it differently.

Some things can be changed.

A tire that is worn out.

An outfit that does not match.

However, somethings also cannot be changed.

We cannot change that the years are going by. **CLICK**

We cannot change what the process of time brings.

We desire to change them but can’t.

Consider three things that we would all love to be able to do, but can’t.

I. IF YOU COULD CHANGE THE PAST, YOU WOULD… BUT YOU CAN’T.

Think of major events that have transpired. **CLICK**

Events that are horrifying.

Holocaust.

9/11.

Wars.

They are discussed in countless history books, and are taught to students at some point in their lives.

We look at these events and know in a heartbeat that if we could change them we would.

These are not the events to which I am referring.

Would you go back and try to do things differently in your own lives? **CLICK**

Absolutely.

Play your most painful moments in your lives back for a moment.

Could be the loss of a friend by way of death or the breaking of that bond.

It could be that you said something or did something to someone that ruined your relationship to them.

That is the one phrase repeated (“If I could go back”).

We are not the only people that struggle with wanting to change our past.

Do you think these individuals wanted to change their pasts?

Adam and Eve would have wished that they listened to God (Genesis 3).

Cain would have wished to not have murdered his brother (Genesis 4).

Those that ridiculed and made fun of Noah would have wanted to take that back and have listened to the message (Genesis 6-7).

Moses and Paul wanted to change their pasts.**CLICK**

Moses.

He struck the rock when he was told to speak to it (Numbers 20:8;11).

He would as a result not be allowed to enter into the promised land, and it had nothing to do with his old age. (Deuteronomy 31:2; 34:7).

He would ask the Lord to enter into the land, and the Lord got to a point where He said: “Do not ask me again” (Deuteronomy 3:23-26).

Moses as a result of a past action lost his chance to go into the land.

We can have the same mindset at times.

Our actions matter.

Paul.

Paul was an individual that breathed out murderous threats (Acts 9:1-4).

He believed he was doing the right thing (Acts 23:1; John 16:2).

On the road to Damascus he discovers that he had been persecuting Jesus, the very One he thought he was pleasing (Acts 9:5-6).

He is baptized for the remission of his sins and those sins included the ones he committed against the church.

Did he ever let himself off of the hook (1 Corinthians 15:9; 1 Timothy 1:15)?

He felt that though he was forgiven, he had been the chiefest of all sinners and one that was not worthy to be called an apostle.

Why?

Past actions.

He wanted to change what he could not change.

He would have loved to have not been the persecutor of the church after he learned the truth.

We all want to change things in our past. **CLICK**

We may have even been forgiven for these things, but that does not change our own guilt that we can carry.

We in many cases want to change the past… but we can’t.

II. IF YOU COULD CHANGE THE PRESENT, YOU WOULD… BUT YOU CAN’T **CLICK**

Everyone is currently facing their own difficulties.

No one is exempt.

For some, they face problems in:

Recent loss of a job.

Recent loss of a loved one.

I don’t know what it is for you but I know there is something…

This is not just a 21st century problem. **CLICK**

It has been happening since back before we were born.

Since Bible times even.

In the Bible there are examples of people wanting a change in their present lives.

Elijah wanted God to take his life to get out of his problem (1 Kings 19:1-8).**CLICK**

Elijah wanted nothing more than death, but was told that he needed to keep working for the Lord.

Get some rest, and get back up!

Jesus did not want to die on the cross and asked for another way (Matthew 26:36-42). **CLICK**

Jesus as well wanted the cross to be taken away.

Only if there were another way to save mankind.

Jesus was willing to go through with the crucifixion because it was the only way!

Paul wanted his thorn in the flesh removed (2 Corinthians 12:6-10). **CLICK**

Paul asked more than once for his infirmity to be taken away, but was told all three times that the answer would be no.

God’s grace is sufficient.

If it was to be sufficient for Paul, it should be sufficient to you and me today!

So many of us want to change our current situations. **CLICK**

Unfortunately some of the worlds present distresses cannot be changed.

We all have struggles and we have to learn to live with them.

III. IF YOU COULD KNOW THE FUTURE, YOU WOULD… BUT YOU CAN’T **CLICK**

So many of us would love to know what will transpire.

Where will we be in five years?

What will your job look like?

What will your family look like?

What will this congregation look like?

What problems will I face in the next five years? **CLICK**

What problems will your families face?

What problems will your congregation face?

We want to know these things, but it is not possible.

Only God knows the future (Deuteronomy 29:29; Jeremiah 33:3). **CLICK**

God knows when we will die (Hebrews 9:27; 1 Kings 2:2; Psalm 89:48).

Story about when someone said they thought I had died.

My day is coming.

I don't know when my day will be (Genesis 27:2; Proverbs 27:1; James 4:13-15).

There are things that only God knows. **CLICK**

What will happen to me when I die?

I return to God (Ecclesiastes 12:7).

I gain a great gift in dying (Philippians 1:21-23).

What happens when the end of this world occurs?

Judgment Day (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Not even Jesus knows when Judgment day is coming (Matthew 24:36-42)!

This day is vastly approaching (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

There will be a resurrection (John 5:28-29; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

The living will be changed (1 Corinthians 15:50-58).

The dead will rise (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

The world will be destroyed (2 Peter 3:9-13).

We may want to know what the future holds, but we cannot. **CLICK**

Especially when it comes to the judgment.

We need to be ready knowing that day could be at any moment.

We never know what will happen and life is so short.

We are here for just a moment (James 4:14).

IV. GOOD NEWS, THERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU CAN CHANGE.

You can change what your past has done to you. **CLICK**

No matter what you have done, God wants you to be saved (2 Peter 3:9).

No matter what haunts you, God can redeem you (Ephesians 1:7; Galatians 1:4; 2:20). **CLICK**

You can change your present state in regards to salvation. **CLICK**

He has commanded for us to repent from our sins (Acts 17:30).

Our present state is changed through baptism (Romans 6:3-4). **CLICK**

CONCLUSION:

We all would love to change

Our past.

Our present.

Even knowing our future.

We cannot.

We must learn to be content with the lives we are living.

Trusting in God, and His grace.

Because it is sufficient.

2 Corinthians 12:10