Regret

As we move from mid-life into early elderhood, it is common for us to look back over our lives. While there may be much to be grateful for, almost everyone has things to regret. Goals we have failed to accomplish, places we never went, things we wish we had done, things we wish we had not done, this is the normal pattern for us all. But there are those who carry not only regret, but deep wasting-away guilt for lives lived outside of the love of God. There are those of us who rebelled as youths causing parents to suffer worry or embarrassment. Some of us made an unwise or sinful choice of a spouse, or failed to live up to our marriage commitment. We suffered through divorce, sometimes causing our children great harm. There are those who put so much effort into business success that they never really got to know their own families. There are those who participated in acts of war that haunt them to this very day. There are those who had wonderful opportunities presented to them but in laziness or fear let the chance slip by unattended. Addictions may have marred our life and the lives of those around us. This normal period of reflection may for some be a painful period of self-reproach. With one hand we live in gratitude for our salvation and the goodness of our God, but with the other hand hidden in shadow we decry the sins of our earlier life.

Ezekiel has some words for those of us living in regret or guilt. The first is that we are watchmen. We know about destruction. We can see the future for those coming after us as they proceed down the dark paths with which we are so familiar. He calls out for us to warn them. The Lord says, "When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die, and you don't speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself (NIV)." This sounds really harsh, but it is incumbent on us to share our stories (especially those in which we are not the hero) with others. We are responsible to tell them that sin results in death and that God longs to save. God says to Ezekiel "Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their wicked ways and live. Turn! Turn ! Why will you die?'" (NIV)

The second thing that Ezekiel tells us is that to the best of our ability we are to make amends. We are to say we are sorry, ask to be forgiven and make right what is in our power to make right. We are not to bury those memories in the sand. "And if I say to the wicked man, 'You will surely die' but he turns away from his sin and does what is right--if he gives back what he took in pledge for a loan, returns what he has stolen, follows the decrees that give life, and does no evil, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the sins he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live (NIV)" declares the Sovereign Lord.

IF we have done all that we can do to make amends, and to amend our lives, we are called to live in the grace and forgiveness of our Lord. We are not to drown in regret or guilt. Instead we are to live boldly and gratefully in the joy of the Lord who has given us new life for evermore. Amen