And just like that summer is gone.
Our heaters are back on … and we are waking up each morning to darkness outside. It’s as if a light-switch flipped and summer “turned off” … and we stepped through the door into fall. The sunshine and wildfire smoke and heat are gone. And the rain and cold are here again.
It was a good summer.
I enjoyed my Advent Seed Calendar immensely this summer. The Zinnias are still blooming their hearts out.
The cucumbers from my Advent Seed Calendar produced an abundant harvest which we enjoyed all summer long. But their harvest is coming to an end. Only a few small cucumbers are left. It’s a bit sad.
The Chinese Long Beans from my Advent Seed Calendar brought me so much joy. There are still a few beans growing … probably one last meal’s worth. It’s a bit sad knowing they are almost done. I’m letting a couple of beans on the plant to go to seed, so I can save seeds for next year.
The Advent Calendar sunflowers are blooming so beautifully! I gave the very first bloom to my son and daughter-in-law as a “first-fruits” gift (since they gave me the Advent Seed Calendar in the first place).
My tray of Arugula and Basil are still producing … but they are almost done as well. It’s a bit sad.
It’s a bit sad to see summer go. It was a good summer.
How do we let one season of life go … fully recognizing the nostalgic sadness … but yet without having any regrets?
How do we live a life with no regrets??
The answer: By obeying the Holy Spirit. Every day.
In every season of our life, we have done things which we wish we hadn’t done. There are decisions we have made which we wish we had not made. There are attitudes we have had which we should not have had. There are words we have spoken which we should not have spoken.
Satan will use these things to heap regret on us.
Satan will use these things to accuse us and condemn us.
For sure there are things in previous seasons of my life which I wish I had not done. There are ways I treated people which were wrong. There were attitudes of pride and arrogance which I should not have had.
In each instance, I have brought these sins and failures to Jesus. I have repented of them. I have owned them. I have acknowledged that this behavior was sin. And I have asked Jesus to forgive me.
Jesus, in his kindness and mercy and grace has forgiven me of these sinful things I have done. Jesus has washed me clean and taken the sin away.
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” – Psalm 103:11-12
Why do we have regrets in life??
We have regrets because we know – deep down in our innermost soul – that we have done wrong. We have sinned.
Our conscience is convicting us.
The Holy Spirit is convicting us.
What we need to do is repent.
We need to acknowledge our sin. We need to own our sin. We need to repent of our sin. We need to ask Jesus for forgiveness. And if necessary, we need to ask forgiveness of the ones whom we have wronged in life.
If we do not obey the Holy Spirit by repenting … then Satan will use these failures to set up a “stronghold” in our life.
Satan will bring these failures to our mind over … and over … and over. Satan will accuse us – as we replay these failures over and over in our mind. Satan will condemn us – as we replay these failures over and over in our mind.
This right here is what is happening when we live in regret.
For sure Satan has brought to my mind all my previous failures. At the most random times he’ll pop memories of my past failures into my mind … over, and over, and over. And every single time I remind Satan that Jesus has forgiven me of that sin. Jesus has washed me clean. Jesus has taken that away. Satan needs to go away and leave me alone about that, because Jesus has forgiven me for that.
How do we not live in regret??
#1. – Obey the Holy Spirit and repent.
#2. – Also … Obey the Holy Spirit when it comes to obedience to the Word of God.
The Holy Spirit is the author of the Word of God (2 Peter 1:21). Therefore, the Holy Spirit will speak to our soul via the Word of God. As we read the Word of God (the Bible), the Holy Spirit will tell us (deep in our soul) about how we should be responding to what we are reading. We need to forgive in this area of our life. We have told lies which we need to repent of. We should not be watching that particular show because it doesn’t please God. We are trending towards bitterness in this particular area of our life, and we need to deal with that. etc. etc. …
If we choose to ignore and disobey the Holy Spirit when it comes to obedience to the Word of God … then we will wind up with regrets. And once again, the root of regret is unrepented sin. We did not do what the Holy Spirit was telling us to do. We did not obey the Word of God and do what was right.
And once again Satan will use these disobediences to heap regrets on us! Satan will accuse us because of our failure to do what we know we should have done. Satan will condemn us because of our failure to do what we know we should have done. We will begin condemning our own selves through the regrets heaped on us.
How do we escape the “chains” of regret??
Answer: Repent.
We need to acknowledge that we did not obey what the Holy Spirit was telling us to do through the Word of God. We chose to hold on to unforgiveness. We chose to hold on to all those lies we have told. We chose to hold on to bitterness. We chose to hold on to lust and immorality. We chose to hold on to watching lust and immorality played out via our entertainment shows. etc. etc. …
We need to own our sin. We need to repent of our sin. We need to ask Jesus for forgiveness.
Jesus will forgive us. Jesus will take our sin away.
And we will be set free from the “chains” of regret.
How do we live a life with no regrets??
#1. – Obey the Holy Spirit and repent.
#2. – Obey the Holy Spirit when it comes to obedience to the Word of God.
#3. – Obey the Holy Spirit when it comes to day-to-day living.
As we go through our life day-to-day, the Holy Spirit will guide and direct us.
The Holy Spirit will prompt us (deep within our soul) when we need to offer a kind word of encouragement to someone. The Holy Spirit will convict us (deep within our soul) when we just said something unkind and need to apologize. The Holy Spirit will alert us (deep within our soul) when we should hold our tongue and not say that thing we are about to say.
We need to “clear the clutter of noise” from our life so that we can hear the “still small voice” of the Holy Spirit speaking to us (deep within our soul).
And we need to obey.
If we are living a life of full surrender to the Holy Spirit, then there is no place for regret at all.
The failures and mistakes we have made are covered by the forgiveness of Jesus. There is nothing to have regrets about. Jesus has forgiven us and taken that away. And Jesus can redeem the failure in his own good way.
If we are living in full surrender and full obedience to the Holy Spirit, then when something goes wrong in life and we find ourselves in a situation of pain or suffering … there is no reason to have regrets, because we were fully following and obeying the Holy Spirit. If we are in this place of suffering or pain, it is because this is God’s will.
God will protect us here. God will give us strength and courage for this. We trust fully and completely.
There is no place for regret at all when we are fully surrendered and trusting in the faithfulness and sovereignty of our God.
How do we live a life with no regrets??
#1. – Obey the Holy Spirit and repent.
#2. – Obey the Holy Spirit when it comes to obedience to the Word of God.
#3. – Obey the Holy Spirit when it comes to day-to-day living … fully surrendered and trusting in the faithfulness and sovereignty of our loving God!
As the “sun sets” on each of our lives, I pray that we each can watch the beautiful “sunset” of our time on this earth having no regrets.
