Hey! There was an Elephant in my Room!

I forget sometimes that this is my shake can to rattle at myself. So the very things that Need to go in here are the ones that remain deeply hidden inside of me. But hey...no regrets!!

Regrets are what I want to talk about. I have lived, what feels like my whole life, with regrets. They were not obnoxious or obtrusive. They never hurt anybody or caused a world war...but the truth is they hurt me. They were the proverbial elephant in the room of my life.

"Regrets," you say, "what the heck is a regret?" So glad you asked.

Regrets sound like this inside our minds:

  "I should have never said that..."

 "What if I had done this instead..."

" I know I am forgiven, but..."

"I have wasted so much time by..."

You get the idea. That's what the inside of me sounded like.

What they did is even worse. Regrets about old friendships kept me from forming new ones. Regrets about things I had said in fear of saying the wrong thing again. Regrets about old sins I had confessed kept me in self condemnation. Sadness, fear, condemnation all held me captive because of one little anchor...Regret. I even had regrets of things I had done wrong as a mom, a wife, a daughter. There was no area of my life that was free from regret.

A couple of days back I read a post on the blog of an author I like, Francis Frangipine. (note: I do not always agree with him, but his writing impels me to think.) In it, he addresses the things above and goes a step further. He calls consuming regret a spiritual stronghold.

As I am reading his blog, tears are streaming down my face. He was describing me to the very last period. He does not stop with the description, he continues on with the prescription and encouragement to allow God to clear the regrets, not be afraid of godly sorrow, and live a life free of chain-binding regrets.

The next day, I went forward at church and prayed with a dear friend. By the word of my testimony and agreement in prayer I have been set free. The elephant called regret no longer lives in me.

So my next steps...not get caught in the trap of regretting.

Galatians 5:1
[ Freedom in Christ ] It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

I forget sometimes that I am on a journey through life that is moved forward by one step at a time...another step forward.

Father, thank you that because of the Blood of Jesus, I am set free. Amen