Bigger Than Regrets

Bigger than Regrets

Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double. Zechariah 9:12, ESV

REGRET IS CORROSIVE TO YOUR SOUL. You’ve probably noticed that. Along with its twin, disappointment, regret can eat away at your hope, undermine your expectations, and inhibit your faith. You may wish for God’s powerful intervention while holding on to regret and disappointment, but you will find it very difficult to believe with any firm conviction that his goodness actually applies to you. When you allow your regrets to grow large, God’s great works grow smaller and more distant in your eyes.

The problem with regret is that it lets past experiences dictate future possibilities. For example, regret focuses on those parenting mistakes that are now bearing fruit in an adult child’s life and assumes it’s too late to fix them. Faith remembers God’s promise to teach our children himself and establish their peace (Isaiah 54:13). Regret focuses on those missed opportunities that, in retrospect, would have changed your life dramatically but are now lost forever. Faith remembers God’s promises to restore the years the locusts have eaten (Joel 2:25, ESV) and give you double for your losses, even those that were your fault (Zechariah 9:12). Regret focuses on an embarrassing past and continues to carry the shame. Faith remembers God’s promises that you will forget the shame of your past (Isaiah 54:4) and receive a double portion of honor (Isaiah 61:7). Regret keeps you looking backward, even as God’s promises call you forward.

God’s promises cover even our past. Many of his most extravagant promises of restoration in the prophetic books were given to people whose losses, disappointments, and shame were their own fault. He didn’t promise only to restore what was unjustly taken from them; he promised to cover their mistakes, heal their self-inflicted wounds, and bless them doubly in return. That’s an amazing gift. It turns every regret, disappointment, and loss into a victory.

Shun regret and disappointment as if they were diseases of your spirit. Choose the health of your soul. Leave the past behind and embrace God’s extravagant promises of redemption and restoration. Your faith, hope, and prayers will soar with energy. Your past will look more beautiful, and your future brighter than ever.

When you feel that all is lost, sometimes the greatest gain is ready to be yours.