Dealing with Regrets and Mistakes

Is it to late for me to be blessed?

Has my life missed the mark?

Am I too far gone that I can't make it back to my purpose?

Are all these questions or concerns that sound familiar to you that you may have been wrestling with? Are you daunted with the reality of your actions, and now you feel like you can't move forward?

We all remember or reflect on moments of times in our lives where we feel like we have blown it. Regret can often come knocking at the door of our conscience, reminding us of how we have hurt others, how we would be in a different place had we made different decision, and how it’s our fault what we’re facing today. This battle happens in our minds, and we begin to retract and push others away from the crisis that we may be experiencing in our own souls. 

In this season that I and my wife have been going through, which I have called this blog post "reflections in the desert", I have had to wrestle with this very same thought. Am I going through this because God isn't pleased with me? Have I personally missed the mark and not realized it? Through all of this God has pointed me to this scripture which has been the foundation of me continuing in hope, regardless of what it may feel like.

 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

You see, we often think that God only uses our moments of success. Or he is only the God of our breakthrough, but it’s clear in the Bible that he is also the God of our shortcomings, failures, disappointments, heartache and regrets. It says in Romans 8:28, that he works ALL things together for our good. 

So what does this mean, that even though you have made mistakes you regret, even though you failed, even though you blew it, He is able to use that to turn it into our good. You maybe asking yourself, Svet how could me hurting someone else turn for my good, how could my divorce be turned around for good?

What we don’t often see is what God is doing behind the scenes. You see without that pain, you wouldn’t have wanted to change. Without that setback you would have never given up and asked God for help. Without that failure you would have never been directed into your purpose. And without your flaws you would have never known how much you’re truly loved by God.

Jesus himself asked a Pharisee a similar question about who would love God more.

"And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

So he said, “Teacher, say it.”

“There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”

Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.”

And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” 

Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”' Luke 7:40-47

Isn’t this story amazing? This woman who had sinned much of her life, was able to experience the love of God that someone could have never experienced without the failures and mistakes she had experienced in her own life. The pain and regrets of her past led to her encountering the love of God which we see later in the text saved her, and left her with peace. 

So the question is this, can we rewrite our past? Can we somehow go back in time and undo them? The answer is obviously no, but God can turn what we have done wrong, into our future peace. What does that mean practically in our own lives?

That divorce you went through, was never Gods intention for you, but he wants to show you the love he has for you. That heart break, that almost ruined you, God wants to show you His love through it, that addiction that seems like it won’t leave you alone, God wants to reveal himself as the lover of your soul so that it would lead to your freedom. 

What many people don't realize and also something I've had to wrestle through, is that continuing to punish ourselves and beating ourselves up only leads to us repeating the same behaviors, and keeps us stuck, rather than moving past it. The only way we can move on, is to realize that God has forgiven us, that He loves us, and wants us to move forward in our lives. When we deliberately rehash our mistakes, we make ourselves a prisoner, to what God has already forgotten and forgiven in our lives.  

I want to leave you with this, spend sometime with God today, or even as you're going about your day, and ask the Lord, what are something's that I still am holding against myself? And then ask Him what is the truth about the situation and what does He say about it? You may be surprised at what you hear. God bless!