Faith along the way

Regret. A small word with huge impact, great effect. I’m not talking about those “I shouldn’t have eaten that second helping” or “Why did I stay up so late knowing I have a long day tomorrow?” kind of things. I’m talking about those things that wake us up at 3:00 a.m. or those things we keep wresting over and over in our minds, those things that we agonize over, those things we cannot change, those decisions that cannot be redone, words said that cannot be taken back…those kinds of things. How do we move past it and go forward? That’s the question I ask myself, quite often.

Dictionary.com com defines regret as follows: to feel sorrow for or remorse for (an act, fault, disappointment, etc.); to think of with a sense of loss. Regret is sorrowful, mournful, and can cause bitterness, and anguish. We’ve all experienced regret at some point in our lives. It is not a pleasant feeling.

Regret doesn’t have to be crippling. Maybe we can get to the point where we treat it as a life lesson, move on, and allow it to help us make better decisions going forward. Maybe we can rest in the knowledge that we have a loving God who wants to help us stop looking back and move forward in our lives, to move past wrong decisions, to move forward with hope and not despair. We have an enemy in Satan, and he doesn’t want us to move forward. He wants us to remain in a state of regret that renders us ineffective, feeling defeated. BUT there is victory in Jesus! He’s ready and willing to help us.

When we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, we became new creatures in Christ, as 1 Corinthians 5:17 tells us. Old things have passed away and all things are new. We are no longer defined by our past. We are not who we used to be. We are free in Christ from past failures, past regrets, past sins. We are redeemed; however, that doesn’t mean we can do what we want, whenever we want. In our humanness, in our flesh, we still sin and still need to be obedient to God and His Word. When we sin in future, fall short of His commands, we need to confess it, repent of it-which means to turn away in the opposite direction-and move forward in the path of walking in His Way. Keep moving forward. Don’t look back. Keep your focus on the Lord. Isaiah tells us in chapter 43:18-19 not to remember the former things, that God will do a new thing. Look past the old and look forward to the new thing. Don’t miss out because you keep looking back!

Dealing with past regret may also require us to seek restitution, if possible. We may need to ask forgiveness from someone. That is something we need to seek God about, to pray earnestly about and ask Him to show us His will in this matter. Sometimes restitution may not be possible, therefore, we have to rest in the fact that God has forgiven us if we have truly repented and resolve to move past it, and with His help and strength, not allow that to be a pattern of behavior we repeat.

Regret is a deep subject. I don’t have all the answers, and again I say, as I have in past posts…but I know the One who does have all the answers and that is the Lord. If you are struggling with regret, I pray you find comfort in Him, peace in Him, and are able to cast your burdens at His feet. Cry out to Him, humble yourself before Him, seek His Word, seek His will. When we seek Him, answers are found, prayers are answered. He hears us, He loves us, and He is always faithful to forgive. Praise His name! He is to worthy to be praised!

May God bless you as you move forward,

Jackie