A Defense Against Regret

For 14 years, my sister would get full body hives in the cold. Sometimes she would start to forget her words.

During those years, she lived first in Ohio, and then in Colorado. So she had many, many months of itchy misery.

I was reading a homeopathy book one day, and a specific set of symptoms jumped out at me: hives when the temperature falls 30 or more degrees, and forgetfulness of words.

For a $10 tube of Dulcamara 30C that she could buy at the local health food store, my sister had instant relief from hives, and her words came back to her.

Amazing!

But that book had sat on my shelf for a decade, unopened. It grieved me that I had not read it earlier. I could have allowed my sister to avoid a decade of itchiness, had I only known.

My sister was shocked when I mentioned this to her. “Are you kidding me?! I am so thankful not to struggle with hives anymore! I have never once thought of those ten years. Get that out of your mind!”

For me, though, easier said than done.

Then I noticed that I struggle with regret also in my spiritual journey.

If, at 41, I learned something about how to listen to God, I wanted to weep because I didn’t know this information 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago. Decades of missed opportunity!

I was talking to the Lord about this, because on some level, we’re all learning all the time. And so if I just want to weep and wail every time I learn something … that’s not actually healthy.

The Lord reminded me of a story in Nehemiah (one of my very favorite books of the Bible!).

All the children of Israel came together to listen to the words of the Lord. As they were listening, they started to weep, because they saw how many ways they had failed to keep God’s words.

But Nehemiah said, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep” (Nehemiah 8:9).

The story continues:

Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.”

Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them (Nehemiah 8:10-12).

May we live in celebration of what God is doing now, and not live in regret for what we didn’t do in the days and years that have passed.

Lord, sometimes we come to you with a sinking sense that we missed it, that we didn’t know what to do, that we acted out of incomplete revelation and ignorance.

Lord, for the ways that that is true, please forgive us and continue to teach and guide us. We want more of you, Lord.

Lord, the children of Israel were ready to weep when they heard all that they should have been doing, but Nehemiah stopped them and said, “No! This is a day to celebrate! Don’t grieve! This day the word of the Lord has come to you, and that is holy and beautiful.”

Lord, even so, please break off the spirit of regret, and let us celebrate all that you’re doing in our lives.

We praise you and thank you, Lord! You are a good God, who cares even for the tender heart of your children. Thank you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

The king has lavished on us the wealth of his grace,

Amy Joy

P.S. Homeopathy has helped my family tremendously. I suspect I over-invested in my education, but you can be the beneficiary, as I spent $20,000 on my homeopathy education so you don't have to.

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