REGRETS AND DREAD
Key Scripture: Philippians 3: 13,14
“I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured
and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [it
is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind
and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press
on toward the goal to win the [supreme and
heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is
calling me upward.”
When making decisions in your life, it’s easy to
start asking yourself the question, “Did I make
the right decision?” And although some of that
can be healthy, it can also quickly get out of
balance and lead your heart to place of regret
and dread. When this happens, it’s also easy to
start regretting the past and dreading the future,
and in fact, both are “thieves of joy.”
Many people stay trapped in the past. There is
only one thing that can be done about the past,
and that is to forget it. When we make mistakes
or bad decision (which we all do from time to
time), the only thing we can do is ask God’s
forgiveness and go on. Like Paul, we are all
pressing toward the mark of perfection, but none
of us have arrived.
I believe Paul enjoyed his life and ministry and
this “one aspiration” of his was part of the
reason why. Like us, he was pressing toward the
mark of perfection, admitting that he had not
arrived, but having insight on how to enjoy his
life while he was making the trip.
And if regret has us constantly looking
backwards in the past, dread has us always
fearing forwards concerning the future. I spend a
lot of years with regret pulling one arm and dread
pulling on the other. The result was that I felt
like I was being pulled apart, and I didn’t even
know what the problem was.
Dreading things can become a bad habit, an
attitude that develops out of lethargy or laziness,
or perhaps because of multiple bad decisions.
Procrastination and dread often work together.
An upcoming task is dreaded, so procrastination
says, “Put it off until later.” That sounds good for
a few minutes, but the thing is still there to be
dreaded until it is finished. It would be far better
to do it and be free to go on to other things.
Final Thoughts and Action Items
I have learned from experience that living life
one day at a time is something that can be done.
God gives me the grace for today, but He does
not give me grace for yesterday or tomorrow.
When I am trying to live yesterday today, I can
easily start to second guess the decisions made
and I find myself full of unanswerable questions
and regret. When I live tomorrow today, I allow
fear of the unknown to creep in and I can easily
start walking through life with endless amounts
of dread. Ultimately, living in either regret or
dread is pressure. And what I’ve discovered over
time is to take the pressure off by believing God
and trusting His Word.
Action Items
Are you relying on the grace that’s been given to
you today? Have you asked God to help you rely
on that grace?
Make a mental list of how many times you either
think or say things like, “I just regret that
decision,” or “I’m really concerned about what’s
going to happen tomorrow.”
Decide that today is the only day God has given
you and commit to do the very best that you
can. At the end of your day, ask God to help you
change the habit of regret and dread.
For more on this topic, check out Joyce’s book
Enjoy Your Journey .
