Regret In Missed Opportunities

To have a personal relationship with God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest proof that we have had an experience of the greatest privilege and opportunity in our lives. Beyond that great phenomenon of salvation in our lives, this relationship allows us the opportunities and privileges to have an ongoing part/partnership with God in what He is doing and planning to do in this world. With such a great prospect granted for our lives, one of the worse realities that many of us may have to face is the tragedy of regretting wrong choices, or failures to obey His leadings and instructions that we began to follow, but stopped or turned aside for a lesser distraction or impulse that seemed more important at the time. Whether it was a momentary act of carelessness or a planned stage of disobedience, there is often the overlooked examples of those in the Scriptures who have had to live with some regret because they chose against the plan that God was working in and through their lives. They missed an opportunity to do what it appeared God wanted them to do and it resulted in the painful memory that opportunity may be lost and there may never be the experience of what God could have wanted to do or fully have done in and through lives.

The example of Adam and Eve is not just an historical account, but God reveals to us the potential in all of us and the tragedy of missed opportunity and failure. There are some today that question the literalness of the biblical account of Adam and Eve. Whether we believe it or not, there are truths from it that many of us face as a recurring theme in this life. It is the tragedy of loss and consequences in life. Every day for the rest of Adam’s life, as he toiled in the garden with weeds, he had the painful memory of the garden he lost because of sin and failure to make the right choice before God. Each day as he struggled to survive in the 'garden of consequences' he remembered the 'garden of lost opportunity' that he had in the garden that God had given him. Of the many kinds of tragedies people face in life, the tragedy of losing given opportunities may be among the worse. The key word is “GIVEN”. Adam did not have to toil for opportunity, but he was given the clear instructions for how he was to use it and walk in the blessings of a pleased God. How often do we see individuals fall from the pinnacle of privilege and opportunity because they lose sight of what could be lost and make choices for that which by comparison is not worthy of what they lost?

The good news that may be missed in this tragedy is that God’s grace is greater than our failure, and regret can be His gift to teach us and motivate us to be the best stewards even in the consequences of failing Him. Mercy and grace are often the difference between living with regret and death.

Prayer: Father in heaven we are grateful that even in the garden of our weeds we can still have rain and all that we need to do Your continued will granted to us as we live on beyond our sin and failures. We rejoice even in our thoughts of regret because the consequences are surely better than we deserve. In Jesus Name, amen.
By Pastor Wayne Cockrell