No regrets

The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee …went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. Luke 23: 55 – 56

The Bible narratives give us absolutely no indication about what went on between Jesus’ body being placed in the tomb on Friday and the ladies visiting the tomb early on Sunday morning other than everyone resting on the Sabbath as required by the law.

However whilst everyone may have been resting, I am sure everyone’s minds were whirling going over and over and over what had happened. I cannot believe the disciples and the women were not overwhelmed with sorrow (Mark 16:10), disappointment, dashed hopes and dreams and also regrets. I am sure Peter was going over and over his denial of Jesus. I expect other disciples were wondering why they had argued over who was the greatest and why they had not gone and confronted the Sanhedrin or spoken up for Jesus before Pilate. Regret would have weighed heavily upon them.

I think that the reason we know nothing about that Sabbath is that there is nothing to be gained from knowing. What mattered were not the disciples’ regrets about Jesus’ crucifixion and their part in it but rather what followed.  What mattered most is that Jesus was raised from the dead. What is of far greater importance is that he appeared to the disciples on many occasions before ascending into heaven with the promise that one day he would return. The day of Pentecost when the Spirit was poured out on the disciples who had betrayed, let down and run away from Jesus is what matters and how they were then empowered to preach to the crowd so 3000 people got saved.  Those self same disciples then became mighty men of God doing even greater miracles than Jesus did (Acts 5: 15 – 16) and most of them suffered and died for the Gospel.

The lesson for us is that it is not our past and our regrets that we should focus on but our future with God. When we waste time regretting our pasts and what could have been, we miss out on our present and even more importantly our future. I have some friends in South Africa who were brought up in the most awful, abusive and difficult circumstances who could have spent their lives regretting their past, wasted lives.  Instead they have let God transform them and they are now making such a difference for God. I am convinced now that there is no life that God cannot transform and make useful, if we are willing.

 

One of my friends was a prostitute, drug dealer, always fighting and in trouble, a lady bouncer who spent time in jail. Today she is used to share the love of God with the most broken people. God has changed her completely. The woman, who used love in all the wrong ways with all the wrong people, now shows God’s love in the most amazing fashion. She could have wasted her life regretting her past, instead she has let God change her and use her.  God did the same for the disciples and he will do the same for each one of us.

Overcoming the past

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8: 1 – 2

I don’t know about you but there are times when my past failures, mistakes and stupid errors of judgement come flooding back to condemn me. There are so many things that I would not do now especially with the benefit of hindsight that I foolishly did in the past. There are so many things I would do differently. 

However when failure and condemnation seek to come flooding in the first and most important thing to remember is that God is not calling us a failure nor is he condemning us. The devil is. You see if he can get us to focus on our failures and mistakes, we will not be focusing on the possibilities before us now. It is like driving a wedge between God and his plans and purposes and ourselves. 

Condemnation swamps us with failure and a sense of guilt and inadequacy. God showers us with blessings and possibilities. If we trust God with our lives, he will bring good out of every situation – even our monumental mistakes. His word assures us of that. Romans 8: 28 says, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose. It may be a very familiar verse but it is also the EXIT sign to feelings of shame and failure from mistakes.

My teenage years were not a time in which I take any pride. I was rebellious and foolish because I felt no one like or loved me.  I did a lot of very silly things. Yet God used those experiences to give me such a heart for teenagers so they would not walk in the same rebellion and rejection that I had felt.  

We must resist the devil and all his lies, not invite him in and listen to his nonsense. Jesus’ death on the cross took all our sin, guilt and shame. Our past is not a problem to God and we must not let the devil use it to condemn us. We are free so let’s walk in freedom and let God renew our minds so when the devil reminds us of the past and its failures, we think instead of how much God has done and the good he is bringing from our mistakes.