The Bungee Cord. 3-3-25
Hello,
Maybe you, like I, have run into a person who says of their life, “I have no regrets, because everything in my past has made me the person that I am.” I, however, am not one of those regretless people.
It may be true that the conglomeration of my past has made me the person that I am, but that doesn’t mean that my past is void of regrets. When I look back, I feel badly about the pain that I have caused others when I dropped the ball, especially the pain that I caused my wife and sons. I feel awful about decisions that I have made, either carefully or thoughtlessly, that have caused me to crash into a brick wall. I feel miserable about the holes that I have dug into which I have fallen, and others have fallen, too. I am pained by some of the things that I have said that have been like a chainsaw to a relationship. I have regrets.
I know, however, that I am not alone in having regrets. The Bible tells us that many people that Jesus encountered had regrets in their lives. Zacchaeus regretted that he had over taxed people (Luke 19). Peter, one of Jesus disciples, regretted denying Jesus three times at Jesus’ trial (Mark 14). Paul, the one who wrote many books in the New Testament, regretted torturing early Christians (Philippians 3). It seems to me that to say one has no regrets requires one to turn a blind eye to the pain that we all bring into our lives and the lives of others.
I readily say that I have regrets as I look at my past, but I would not say that my life is dominated by regrets. My life is dominated by thanks, thanks to Jesus whose grace is stronger than my regrets. I say that with complete confidence because I have Jesus gather all of my regrets and their power unto himself, like a black hole of grace, and bring them to death as he died, and then with the power that created the universe, God’s power, Jesus walked out of death’s grave. Alive! Nothing else walked out of that grave, not one regretful thing. Only Jesus. Alive. Regrets, dead.
Because I have seen the power of Jesus in his cross and resurrection, thankfulness dominates my life. I am thankful that Jesus loves me so much that he doesn’t just leave me in the grips of my regrets but rather has shown that he would die for me in order to hold me in his embrace forever. I am thankful that Jesus shepherds my wife and my sons, even if they don’t know it, and carries them in his arms when they have strayed off. I am thankful that the pain that I have brought to the world does not have the last word, but God, who has endured all the sufferings that the world can give, does not abandon anyone in pain, but instead dives headfirst into that pain. I am thankful that my severing words are met by God’s indivisible love. I am thankful that God, the potter of my life, will not give up on this lump of clay until it is a masterpiece of his handiwork.
I am thankful that every day, God goes into his pottery workshop, takes a look at what has become of me, this piece of his artwork….maybe dented, maybe cut, maybe hardened, maybe flattened…..and instead of throwing me away, he enfolds his hands around me, splashes water of forgiveness on me, and says to himself, “This one is going to be the apple of my eye.”
By the way, God says the same thing of you, too!
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
