Swimming Upstream: “What’s Stopping Us … our ‘If Onlys’?”

On this eighth anniversary of 911, it’s a good time to seriously ask ourselves: what’s stopping us from serving the Lord with our whole hearts? Is it our if onlys?

If ever a person had justifiable excuses not to serve God, it was Maria Woodworth-Etter (1844 – 1924).

Maria knew as a young girl that she was called to preach the gospel, but she also knew the problems with being a woman preacher. Woman preachers were not accepted at all in the middle 1800’s. Pulpits were for men.

Maria felt her only hope was to marry a missionary, and thus she prepared herself  to attend college. But her father died and hopes for a college education for herself had to be set aside.

During the Civil War, she met an injured soldier and was married after a whirlwind courtship. They soon set up farming, but their hard work and labor only produced failures and debt.

Sadly, her husband never cared about ministry for himself or ever wanted his wife to preach. Plus, they had six children, of which five died from a horrible disease. The last child’s dying words were, “Moma, you have to serve God.”

During her whole life, Maria had felt the persistent call of God on her life. So, she tried explaining to the Lord what she couldn’t do, her list of if onlys.

“If only, I knew what to say,” she told the Lord. His reply, “I’ll fill your mouth with words.”

“If only, I knew the Bible better,” she told Him. He showed her an illuminated Bible on the wall in front of her.

“If only, I had been born a man and not a woman,” she said. As she searched the Scriptures, the names – Hannah, Hulda, Miriam, Phoebe, Narcissus, Tryphens, Persis, Julia, the Marys and Priscilla – jumped off the pages to her.

Finally, Maria launched out into a preaching ministry which eventually led her all over the United States. Few have ever matched her triumphs and successes in preaching the gospel, especially with signs, wonders and miracles.

So what are our if onlys? And how will our if onlys stack up before Him at the Judgment Seat of Christ?

Swimming Upstream appears at this blog site on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s  a little of this and a little of that, all written  to encourage and exhort believers in their Christian journeys.