Delight Yourself in the Lord Devotionals

Forgetting What Lies Behind - Philippians 3

Regrets are one of the most difficult things for us to lay down. I speak from experience. I have been able to overcome the smaller regrets of my life, even some of the pretty big ones, however, there are a few that I can't seem to shake. I was thinking about that today.

A couple of weeks or so ago, I didn't answer the phone when someone called and that person is now gone. I don't answer the cell phone at work unless it is my mom calling. Yet, this was a persistent calling and I began, as we are wont to do, to think about what the call could have been. Did she want prayer? Did she feel the end approaching as she faced the long illness and wanted comfort? Did she just want to hear a friendly voice? Or, was it something else entirely?

I began, after these musings, to take on the guilt and shame of my failure to be there for someone. I was thinking about it again today and I was hearing Holy Spirit gently urging me to learn and move on, not to take on the pain and musing of "what if" to carry in my suitcase of regrets. For so long now, He has been urging me to release the regrets I've carried all these years. I believe that today, by not taking on regret, I am beginning that process.

Regrets, for me, exist in an area where I cannot impact any change. The person has either left this world and is with the Lord or the power to recall something back is forever out of my hands. I must learn to trust in the Lord to work all things together for my good and growth and release all the regrets that weigh me down.

What regrets do you carry? Has the Lord been pressing you, calling you, to lay them down? The life we live in and for the Lord must be free of regrets. It's time to unpack the suitcase and leave regrets behind.

Philippians 3:13-14, AMP, says, "Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature [pursuing spiritual perfection] should have this attitude. And if in any respect you have a different attitude, that too God will make clear to you."

Read all of Philippians 3 Amplified Version here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+3&version=AMP