The torment of regret

Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments!
Then your peace would have been like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;
Isaiah 48:18

In my early childhood I found a book in my father's bookcase that was written in the early 1900's by a 'Mrs. James Cheek' and simply called, Cherished Memories of A Tennessee Girl. This old autobiography (for which there is not even a date of publishing) has been one of the most influential books, apart from the Holy Bible, that impacted my life with a fear of God and a desire to know Him. In her autobiographical account, she shared the memory of a man who seemed to live in perpetual grief for some undisclosed reason. He would attend church meetings and he could soon be seen with tears streaming down his face. In certain conversations he would often repeat the Scripture verse above and begin to weep. He would never say why. It's certain that this poor man lived in the grief of regret. Perhaps he needed to forgive himself as well. His grief seemed to be an entrenched torment in his life.

This man's story so fearfully illustrated this verse's message to me at that young age, that 20 years later I cannot forget either the verse or the man. Unfortunately, regret doesn't really ever go away when what is done cannot be undone. Gratefully, in Christ, our hearts can be healed from the weight of the consequences of our own actions. I have also been weighed down by some regrets in my life and I catch a better glimpse of God's heart for us by His exclamation in this verse: Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! How He really does want the best for us! His commandments do us good and never harm us. Never.

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.
And his commandments are not burdensome.
1 John 5:3

The Most High is our God, but He is also the Father of those who come to Him by faith in Jesus Christ (John 20:17). He cares for us. Deeply.

Please don't turn away from God's revealed will for your day, your circumstance, and your life. Obey Him. Avoid the torment of regret.