This is a guest post by Mike Mobley from Before the Cross. Mike is “Saved by grace through faith. In love with Jesus, his Glory, and obviously my beautiful wife Joelle and daughter Peyton! Seeking Him in everything to glorify Him and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.” You can connect with him on Twitter as well.

We all have opportunities from our past that we missed out on by not acting. Regrets can fill our lives. We can sulk in our guilt for and keep beating ourselves up, saying, “I could have done this. I could have done that.”The reality is, you won’t get that same chance again. To keep living in the past shows a lack of trust in God and results in a waste of time in the present.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” – Deuteronomy 31:6

Let’s remember that for those who have a relationship with Christ, that we have God. There is no reason to fear or be afraid. Instead, be strong and courageous. God is not going to leave you or forsake you.

Here is a good example from my past:

It was one of those days when everything was hitting me at the same time. Work was crazy, everything that could go wrong could did go wrong and I missed out on my time with the Lord that morning. To make matters worst, it was 2 p.m. and I was hungry. I finally got home for lunch, made a sandwich, and plopped down on the couch. This was the first moment of the day I thought would actually go right. Ahhh. Peace and quiet. As I was just about to take the first bite of my sandwich (at that point the most glorious moment of the day) and the doorbell rang.

Who could this be?! And why are they interrupting my lunch and my time!? I opened the door and this young guy was going door to door selling electricity rates. I thought, “This is ridiculous and I don’t have time to listen to him go through a 30-minute presentation when I’m not even interested to begin with.”

I wish I could tell you that I listened and we had a great conversation and I even shared the gospel with him. But I didn’t. Instead, I literally cut him off mid-sentence, told him regardless of what he was going to tell me that I am not interested, said thank you and ended the conversation.

I sat back down, went to take a bite, and there it was. The Holy Spirit started convicting me and telling me to go back to him. I felt convicted and ran outside. But he was gone. I actually got in the car and drove around the neighborhood but still couldn’t find him. I haven’t seen him since.

Now I have two choices I can make from this experience. I can beat myself up and sulk in the guilt, or I can learn from it and move on. Oswald Chambers wrote in My Utmost for His Highest,

The unfathomable sadness of the ‘might have been’! God never opens doors that have been closed. He opens other doors, but He reminds us that there are doors which we have shut, doors which need never have been shut, imaginations which need never have been sullied. Never be afraid when God brings back the past. Let memory have its way. It is a minister of God with its rebuke and chastisement and sorrow. God will turn the ‘might have been’ into a wonderful culture for the future.

Instead of beating myself up over how I talked to that salesman, I can take advantage of the next opportunity and learn from that one.

No matter what you have done in your past, whether you were a follower of Christ or not, don’t let that hold you up. Don’t let those moments make you feel inadequate.

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. – 2 Corinthians 12:9

Let the grace of God be sufficient for you. Glorify Him in your weakness.

We’re all broken people and we are not always going to get it right. But we glorify Him by trusting Him through every circumstance, even when we mess up. Be encouraged that no matter what you have done, you are forgiven. God does not see you, but instead He sees you through His Son. For that reason, you are forgiven and your sin is forgotten. To dwell on the past says that what Christ did on the Cross was not enough for you. It was, it is, and it always will be. Put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. That He died on the Cross for you and was raised on the third day. Praise God that He has forgiven us!

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