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| Ann Arbor, Michigan |
An “If.. then…” statement is a conditional statement. For
example: If it rains, then the ground
gets wet. On the condition of rain, the ground gets wet. A conditional
statement is also called a hypothetical statement. It’s a hypothesis. It’s
hypothetical, not actual. It describes a possible state of affairs, not an
actual state of affairs.
Human longing is about unfulfilled desire. If only I could be/have/achieve ________,
then I would be happy/content. The first part of the conditional statement
expresses the longing, the second its fulfillment.
The world of conditional thinking is the world of
perpetual discontent. This is because fulfillment of our many longings rarely
brings satisfaction. Once we get the thing we long for it won’t be long before
the longing returns. The single person longs to be married; the married couple
longs for children; the parents long for grandchildren; the grandparents long
to see their grandchildren get married. In this life there is perpetual
incompleteness.
Not all longing is bad. Many of our good longings this
side of eternity will remain unfulfilled. This reality could leave us in
unremitting devastation if we are enslaved to conditional thinking. The way to
freedom in this world of many unfulfilled dreams is to be released from the
inner “If… then…” Biblically, this is called contentment.
Real contentment is non-circumstance dependent. One no
longer thinks If these circumstances
happen, then I will be content. “I
don’t have a sense of needing anything personally. I’ve learned by now to be
quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with
much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether
full or hungry, hands full or hands empty.” (Philippians 4:10-12, The Message)
Conditional thinking demands
circumstances to change for there to be contentment. Unless one is healed of
this contentment will never arrive. The Jesus-solution intends to eliminate perpetual discontent by revealing the
heart’s true resting place. “Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make
it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.” (Phil. 4:10)
Years ago one of my baby
sons, David, died. If only David were
alive, then I would be satisfied. The longing expressed in the antecedent
clause of this conditional statement is pure. But the consequent is false. It
is false because things run far deeper than life’s circumstances, fulfilled or
unfulfilled. The idea that I will be forever satisfied in this life if only one of my circumstances would change is an illusion.
To realize this is to focus my heart and mind on something else. I have discovered that my soul finds rest in God alone. When I
direct and order my life to rest in the One who makes me what I am the tears of
my unfulfilled longings are not polluted by unfulfilled circumstances.
