Living With Regret

Living with Regret

Eve

Read: Genesis 3:22-24

As Belinda opened her eyes, she immediately sensed the familiar heaviness in her spirit. In reality, it never left her, but certain conversations, events, holidays, and memories intensified it until she felt consumed. After last night’s dinner party, Belinda knew what her day would be like. She would compare her friends’ vibrant marriages and well-adjusted children with her own family. She would dwell on her past mistakes as a wife and mother and rehash the details of poor choices she had made. She would wonder how her life would be different—if only . . . If only I could live the rest of my life free from this load of regret.

Eve must have known the burden of living with regret. How many times did she think back to that fateful conversation with Satan and her decision to listen to him? Did she feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the consequences and imagine how her life would have been—if only? Although Adam and Eve’s sin banished them from the perfect environment they had known, they looked toward the future and God’s promise of a Savior.

As women, we have the tendency to replay a scene, conversation, or decision over and over in our minds for days, weeks, or even years. This can be beneficial if we prayerfully review our actions and decisions, asking God to show us our weak areas so that we can act in a more godly way the next time we face similar circumstances. Too often, though, we get stuck in guilt and regret that rob us of the joy of living. The Bible says that when we confess and turn away from our sins, they are taken so far away that God no longer considers them. He doesn’t want us to live with a heavy burden of regret. No matter how dark our pasts may seem, the future looks bright if we belong to him.

I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.

Psalm 32:5