Essays
Robbed By Regrets
ROBBED BY REGRETS
More often than not life is littered with regrets - - deeds done that we wish we could un-do and/or deeds left undone that we long to do. Life is filled with bad choices, foolish mistakes, squandered opportunities, misused freedoms, unrealized potential, roads not take, lost time with loved ones, harsh words rashly spoken, unfulfilled promises, broken relationships, and behavior (for good or bad) encompassing multiple years wasted. We can all stand on today looking critically about how our imperfect yesterdays might negatively impact our soon-to-be tomorrows and we can make ourselves absolutely miserable in doing so, even to the point of inviting poor health. While not all regrets are created equal, most of them have the capacity of being job robbers. Regrets run the gamut between being mere distractions to becoming completely debilitating.
The dictionary defines “regret” as follows: to feel sorry, disappointed, or distressed about. We have all experienced feel-ings of regret. How-ever, many of our regrets are not really all that significant - - not at all on the level with Nathan Hale’s "I regret that I have but one life to give for my country." Things like, I regret that I once bought a Torino from a used-car salesman named Doorfliniger or I regret that I did not save more money when I was younger. Perhaps the best way to cope with these kinds of incidental regrets is to recollect the oft-spoken advice of our parents, “Don't cry over spilled milk." Sometimes their instructions would cut to the chase ever more with a condensed admonition like, "Get over it!". Seldom in Scripture do we encounter a Bible character whose life didn’t entail regrets. We cannot turn back the hands of time to take back the past, but we can fight for the future. The key here is to permit our regrets to teach us helpful lessons - - not to inflict lifelong misery.
A second definition of regret is, to feel sorrow or grieve over, mourn. I would also interject the concept of feeling remorse. This is by far the most serious version of regret. This second definition is the subject of King David’s 51st Psalm, which speaks of a deep remorse and a profound sor-
row for deeds done in days gone by. David’s life was being swallowed up by regret and remorse - - for I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me (Ps.51:3). With these serious regrets our only hope for getting over it is to confess our sinfulness and seek forgiveness (Ps.51:4ff). David
didn’t try to RE-LIVE the past. What David did was REPENT. From a recovery point of view, an important part of repenting is LEARNING TO LET IT GO! David knew God well enough to know that with a clean heart also comes A RESTORATION OF JOY (Ps.51:10 & 12). In another of his psalms David writes, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Ps.103:12).
Terry Siverd / Cortland Church Of Christ
