Letting Go of Regrets

“I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” -Philippians 4:11b.

Writing from prison after having been on many missionary journeys, spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, and starting churches in many places, Paul the Apostle was facing inevitable death as a martyr. But his outlook remained positive and his encouragement to Christians in the many churches through his letters (that were subsequently passed on to us in our Bible) encourage believers to live a positive and useful life in the Lord.

If we can learn to deal with regrets and move forward, we have learned a very important life lesson. Disappointments and hardships are inevitable. How we deal with them makes the difference between defeated and victorious living. On a rainy morning, when I awake early and hear rain upon the roof I think of the beauty and benefits of rain, not of the clouds and dreariness of a rainy day. Thinking of the benefits of rain, we know that it provides moisture for dry soil,

How often we liken troubles, regrets and disappointments to rain. Yet think of the benefits of rain: it provides moisture for dry soil, water for thirsty plants and animals, and water for our human consumption and needs. Considering the benefits of rain makes a rainy day a pleasant experience.

American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) penned the words, "Into each life some rain must fall.” But in our effort to use metaphors to describe our pain, we often think of rain as a symbol of suffering and regret. You may remember Ella Fitzgerald, singer, and "The Ink Spots" who used Longfellow's line in the song popular several years ago: "Into each life some rain must fall/But too much is falling in mine;/Into each heart some tears must fall/But someday the sun will shine."

The time comes when we must move forward from regrets instead of being weighted down by them. We think of the positive qualities of rain (and of troubles) and "learn to dance in the rain," as Vivian Green urges us.

C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), writer and theologian, noted: "We were promised sufferings. They were part of the program. We were even told, 'Blessed are they that mourn' " (Matthew 5:4).

The Serenity Prayer attributed to American theologian Reinhold Neibuhr (1892-1971), and slightly adapted for Alcoholics Anonymous use, has good advice for moving from regrets to victorious living. "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other." (The ending is often offered as "and the wisdom to know the difference.").

Paul the Apostle had the idea of moving through regrets to victorious living when he wrote, "I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content" (Philippians 4:11b). Troubles, sorrows, illnesses and setbacks come. God is our very present help in trouble. We read and rejoice in the words of Jesus: “Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1).

The rain makes a beautiful sound upon the roof. I listen and take opportunity to adore God who gifts us with rain--and sees us through the "rainy days of trouble." I say in all sincerity, "This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24). - Ethelene Dyer Jones 02.12.2017