We’ve probably all heard the song by Cher “If I Could Turn Back Time.”

Yes, if we could do that it would be great, wouldn’t it?! There’d be so many things we’d change. So many things we’d say…or not say…to friends or family members. So many things we’d do differently…or not do at all. If we could just change one day, one event…

It doesn’t work like that, does it? Especially since tonight we’re only turning those clocks back for an hour.

But what if it did?

We certainly think we know what would have happened if we were able to change one thing that had happened previously. But one small and seemingly insignificant event that was changed could have, and would have, impacted the entire world around us. Because what happens to one person affects another person or persons around them, and the effect snowballs until it reaches for miles and miles, stretching from city to city, and so on.

Stephen King wrote a book about this, “11/22/63,” in which a man goes back in time to stop the assassination of President Kennedy, thinking it would change the world in only positive ways. Unfortunately the main character didn’t count on all of the other events that were impacted because of that failed assassination attempt. It’s an excellent story. And it really makes you think.

Personally, there are many things I think about in my own life that I wish I could turn back time and change. Some, if not all, most definitely would result in my life being totally different from what it is today.

What if I’d gone to college somewhere else, or not gone to college at all? What if I’d chosen a medical major which I’d originally planned, rather than business? What if I’d turned down some of those job offers I ended up taking?

And what if some of the people who were in and out of my life for various reasons had made different decisions, different choices? How different all our lives would have been.

Our choices, our decisions, and the choices of others around us, no matter how totally insignificant we may think they are, have a direct bearing in all that happens to us. These decisions all shape our future and make our lives what they are today.

Most importantly, if I hadn’t made the choices I did, would we still have the beautiful daughter and granddaughter we are so blessed with? And would our daughter have even met her husband, our son-in-law and father to our granddaughter? There are times I’ve thought about these questions, and my only answers are, “I have no idea….”

Proverbs 16:9 reminds us, “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” (ESV)

But I still wonder….

Yes, I would love to be able to go back in time and re-live certain memories and events. But what if in doing that, somehow I did something different and the entire course of my life changed? Then what?

Turning back time is certainly something to think about, isn’t it?

So when you re-set those clocks tonight for that extra hour’s sleep, think about how you’re going to use that extra hour.

What will you do with that extra hour that change your life? Or someone else’s?

It certainly is something to think about.