No Regrets

Regret. We all have it. How many times have we thought, “if I knew then, what I know now, I would have done many things differently.” Regret. It can steal our joy and our hopes. It keeps us looking backward rather than forward. Regret is not from God. Regret comes from the enemy because at its core, it’s simply, an accusation that you messed up beyond repair.

So how do we counteract regret? With the hope and belief God restores. God is a restorer of dreams, wayward children, bad marriages, broken lives, years of addictions, bad parenting. There is no situation too far gone for God’s restorative power to come into and redeem and restore.

imageHe redeems and restores so beautifully and so completely that some us may surmise the bad thing was from Him to begin with. It was not.

When Jesus stood in the synagogue and read Isaiah 61, He declared He had come to fulfill that scripture. Isaiah 61 is permeated with the restorative power of God. Part of Jesus’ complete work on the cross includes restoration – restoration of the years the locust has eaten, restoration from our bad choices, restoration from years of abuse.

Today, give God your regrets. Give him your bad choices. Give him your disappointments. Give him your mess and allow him to restore it beautifully and completely. Allow Him to give you beauty for ashes, joy for your mourning, praise instead of despair. God can restore all of your regrets. Stop looking backwards and began looking forward with hope! God will restore! God will redeem! He is a serial restorer!

To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory. They will rebuild the ancient ruins, repairing cities destroyed long ago. They will revive them, though they have been deserted for many generations. (‭Isaiah‬ ‭61‬:‭3-4‬ NLT)