I lost my wallet once. So I got on my hands and knees and started looking. A man walked up and asked me if I had lost something. I simply replied, “Yes, I lost my wallet.”
He asked me where I lost it (Really?).
I told him I lost it down the street a bit.
He then asked, “Well, why you looking over here then?”
Because the light is better!
I know, goofy joke, right? I told it to set the stage for my blog. I have things in my life which I have hid (lost on purpose) and regret. I know where/what they are but like the wallet, I choose not to look at them. I am afraid to look over there for fear of bringing up a past pain or conflict and dealing with regret.
I know my previous post spoke of Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol” but there is more I need to say on this. How would you like to be visited by the ghost of your past? How would you like to go back and relive your sins, your mistakes, the foolish choices that changed your life?
How would you like to be forced to watch helplessly, knowing what the outcome is going to be, unable to do anything to change the result, feeling the sharp pain of regret at not having taken the other path, or at least wondering what would have happened had your choices been different?
Don’t you sometimes wish you could go back and talk to yourself at those key moments, talk to that person in the movie of your life, warn them, tell them where the road they’re taking will lead?
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. - 2 Corinthians 7:10
Sorrow over sin can by healthy, up to a point. It can help us learn from our mistakes so that we don’t repeat them. But regret is anything but helpful; it’s destructive and debilitating. It allows the sins and mistakes of the past to reach out and poison our present. And if it’s not handled appropriately, it will just lead to more wrong choices and more regret, a vicious cycle.
Regret is also unhealthy when it leads to an attitude of hopelessness. "What difference does it make? I’ve already messed up. Regret can also lead to apathy, paralysis; an unwillingness to seek God’s blessing -- in our marriage, our family, our job, our ministry.
We don’t have to be paralyzed by regret, we don’t have to let it rob us of the joy and hope that God has promised us as our birthright in Christ.
Jesus said, "I came that they may have life, and have it more abundantly. - John 10:10
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. - John 15:11
Those promises of abundant life and joy are for all the followers of Christ, and not just those who have never made a serious error in judgment or who have never committed a major sin. Those promises are for every one of Christ’s disciples, whatever their background, whatever sins or mistakes their past may contain.
Many people think that God has one perfect plan for their lives. As long as they stay in that plan by walking in obedience, and seeking His guidance for major decisions, they will enjoy God’s best. But if at any point they "mess up" badly enough, by sinning or by not seeking His guidance, or by making a foolish decision, then they are out of God’s plan, and they can never again enjoy His full blessing on their lives.
All of your sins and mistakes that you thought were detours, exit ramps from God’s plan for your life were in reality a part of His plan. You are right now, and always have been, precisely in the center of God’s plan for your life. There was never a possibility that it would be otherwise.
What was the greatest sin in history? The worst thing that any person or group of people ever did? How about murdering the Son of God? How about putting to death the most righteous and holy man ever to walk the earth?
And yet, as supremely evil and wicked as that act was, the Bible tells us that it did not thwart God’s plan. In fact, it was a part of God’s plan.
If the greatest sin in history was part of God’s sovereign plan, then your sins are included in that plan too. Your sin has not thwarted God’s plan for your life. God’s purposes are eternal, from before time. His purposes for the world are eternal, and His purposes for you and me are eternal. They don’t change. They aren’t altered or voided because of our sins or our bad choices.
The story of your life has not been ruined, not by your sin or anyone else’s. God’s good plan for your life is not buried under the mistakes of the past. God has a plan for your life, a good plan, a wise plan, a loving plan, a sovereign plan, and that plan is still in effect. You haven’t missed it. He is working out that plan in your life right now, today.
Will you believe that?
By the way, I found my wallet!
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