Breaking the Chains of Regret

Do not be afraid, Samuel replied. You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 1 Samuel 12:20 (New International Version)

The children of Israel had a trail of sin behind them. They had turned their back on God numerous times and followed false gods. Their cycle of rebellion, bondage, confession, and deliverance had played itself out multiple times. To add insult to injury they asked for a king when all the while God was desiring to be their King. Samuel’s words to them were spoken at a time when their sin stared them in the face and disturbed them deeply.

As the saying goes, “Been there and bought the t-shirt!” Many have been the time when past sins and failures have tormented me. Did I ask forgiveness? Yes! Yet the regret of not doing right will persist if I allow it. One person had it right when she said, “You have confessed it. You have asked for forgiveness. But you are not at peace because you have not accepted the forgiveness God has graciously given.” She was right. Oh, the unnecessary choice we make to persistently carry baggage from the past!

It is never God’s intent that we live under the banner of condemnation once something has been brought to Him for forgiveness. It is not His desire that we incessantly review what He no longer holds against us. While our sin is certainly not a light matter with God, neither is His forgiveness. Forgiveness is a fresh start and an invitation to, from this point on, serve the Lord with all our heart.

That fresh start is taken with renewed thinking and the stopping of labeling ourselves by our past. Our walk with God needs to be defined by what we are doing NOW, rather than what we have done, failed to do, or stopped doing in the past. Just as a parent rejoices over the steps taken by a little one learning to walk, so God rejoices over progress made in our daily walk with Him. It has taken me quite a while to learn to view my Christian life in such a way that I acknowledge the steps forward rather than the stumbles made along the way. It took hearing it from others over and over again before the truth finally hit, but I am beginning to see my journey as one that entails falling, forgiveness, getting up and moving forward. With time I am seeing a bit more distance between those cycles.

So what do I do when I find myself once again in the “review” mode? Know that it is not from God, acknowledge that I have been forgiven, and rejoice in each fresh start!

Father, so often I relate with the children of Israel. Thank you for the reminder that I no longer have to live in the past…even if the past is recent history! Amen.

He Has Forgiven Me - Damaris Carbaugh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQhHN_Ed4sk

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.