Leave Regrets Behind
“Forget the former things; do not swell
on the past.” – Isaiah 43:18
We like to overthink the past, don’t we? We live with
regrets of what we might have done differently or how someone wronged us or
betrayed us or how we missed an opportunity that will never come again.
Not one moment of reviewing the past can change
anything in the present. All it does is keep us from living in the present and
heading toward the future.
There’s one of those Facebook sayings that I love. It
goes something like this: Don’t look back. You aren’t headed that way.
How true is that? Constantly looking back keeps us
from enjoying today. It roots us in bitterness. It reminds us of what will
never be.
Certainly, there are lessons to be learned from
mistakes and betrayals. We live today as a result of where we’ve been. We grow
stronger, wiser, more compassionate as we live through tough experiences. We
understand the depth of what others are willing to do to get their own way and
destroy who you are.
We also learn to be strong and to hold tightly to
those who remain steadfast in their love and friendship. This world is full of
really good people. In our hurt and disappointment, we forget that sometimes.
One of those who disappoint us the most is ourselves.
We think of all those things we could have done differently. We lament those
things that we meant to do and never did. We beat ourselves up for choices that
turned out to be wrong.
There’s no need to condemn yourself for that extra 20
pounds you haven’t yet lost. There’s no need to be critical of yourself for not
going after that promotion or for choosing to be a couch potato rather than follow
God’s clear path. All regret does is keep you mired in the quicksand of
failure. That’s never been God’s plan for you.
King David knew a lot about regret. He’d lusted after
a married woman, took her for himself, then had her husband killed when he
learned she was pregnant with his child. He paid a high price for that. David
and Bathsheba’s child died.
But David learned and moved on. After the Prophet
Nathan rebuked the king, David repented. This is the man who had a heart for
God. David wanted to do good. He just lost his way and satisfied himself with
what wasn’t his. But David learned from the mistake and God gave him another
child, Solomon, with Bathsheba.
What have you learned in 2018? Do you have regrets? Take
their lessons and leave them behind. Do you have great joy? Learn to multiply
that joy and find satisfaction living in the light of Christ.
