Waving Goodbye To Regret! Wound Healer Part II.

     

                                                                       Image via Pintrest

Has there ever been a time in your life where you wanted to do something, but fear or excuses stood in your way? I don't mean necessarily the big things in life. I mean for example, trying out for a sport, or taking a trip you just keep putting off?  If this isn't true of you, then I suggest you stop reading now, because either you are the biggest daredevil on the planet, or you are lying to yourself. There have been some things, in my life that I wish that I had been brave enough to attempt. One was to join the debate team at Hunter Middle School. I always thought I would be good at it. My mom and close family members have always joked that I should have been a lawyer, because I could argue my position to death. I'm quite sure she didn't mean it as a compliment, but believe me I took it as one. It's ironic now, because as I got older I learned how to be intentional about avoiding conflict at all costs. I also wish that I had joined the Chattanooga State newspaper, while I was a student there, but I was never brave enough.   There have been other regrets on a larger scale than this Thie fear of failure at times in my life, has been paralyzing.  I don't want this to be true of my writing.  The more I live, the more I discover that the risk takers in this world are the ones who often live rich fulfilling lives. I don't want to live a life, immobilized by regret. I've done enough of that already. I'm not saying that it's always wise to throw caution to the wind, but what I am saying is that sometimes playing it safe can become a prison all of its own.  Everything I've just written her goes against my natural personality.
     The early church followers of Christianity had anything but safe lives, still what they did have was an unshakable security in Jesus Christ.  I can't change my past no matter how much I might like to, but I can change my approach to living life now. I'm not concretely sure what steps that God may be asking me to take, but I know that I want to take those steps, as long as those steps are directed by him.  Has God been faithful to you, when you have taken what felt like a giant step of faith?  Will you go with me on this journey however uncertain it could be? You will hear more in the days to come, but for now in order to be set free from the prison of regret both big and small, we must decide that we desire freedom in Christ, more than the familiarity of our own prisons.  I hear the bells of freedom in the distance, but I can't see these yet.  I can see the sunset, but I can grab it yet.  What if David, listened to the naysayers when they said he couldn't fight Goliath?  What if Moses had listened to his own objections?  What if Gabby Douglas had given up on the Olympics a year earlier?  What if the apostle Paul had allowed his past to define his future? What if Michael Jordan had given up too soon?  My question is this, where do we need to move on from the past, in order to embrace our now?  How many sunsets moments are we going to miss in the present, because we cannot let go of the ones we missed in the past?
        I know my next sentence may seem like it’s an oprah Winfrey slogan, and I admit it sounds a bit like something she’d say. I’m learning that with each new day, God through his mercy allows me to redefine who I can become.  I’ve heard all my life how God gives people second chances, but because of Christ, we are given a fresh start with every breath we breathe.  Are you embracing your fresh start, or like me are you still bound by the prison of yesterday?  Are we bound by yesterday’s missed sunsets or the painful memories that seem like we might cave under the weight of rejection both real and imaged?     As I was thinking about how to wrap up this post, I thought of three verses.  “ And we know that God causes everything to work together^[a] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28  NLT  It occurred to me, that while remorse is the proper response to sin, regret is longer lasting and counterproductive to God’s kingdom. When we know God has promised to work out both our victories and failures out for our good and his purpose! "Brothers, I do not^[a] consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead,  I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly^[b] call in Christ Jesus." Phil.3:13-14.HCSB     The apostle knew that He could not take steps forward, if He stayed held hostage by regret.  My mom has always told me can't change the past, and she is right we cannot relieve our moments, but I'm learning that we can do, at least two things with the past, we can let it change us into better people, and learn from it, asking God to use it, or we can continue to mourn it, and continue to be imprisoned in lives filled with regret.  Every day, we are offered the same choice.  I want to wave goodbye to the pain of regret, one step at a time are you coming with me?   "Christ has liberated us to be free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery." Gal 5:1  God provides us with the chance to witness a new sunset every day, let's not miss it by holding on to regret!