Don't Waste a Breath

"Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow." Psalm 144:4

Who among us doesn't look back on their life and have those things cross our mind that we wish had turned our differently. Each of us can see the results of a poor choice we've made or of circumstances beyond our control that, at least for a season, had a great negative impact on the course of our life. The big issue is what do we do with that failure, disappointment, hurt, or regret.

Some people have trouble letting go of past things. Granted, every experience, good and bad, leave some kind of impression on us and have been incorporated within to make us the person we are today. But there is a great deal of difference between having past events shape you and holding so tightly to those regrets from the past that you are unable to hold your hands open with expectancy of what God has for you in your journey ahead.

In my "circle of influence" I am dealing with one of those who is in a constant state of regret. They are still ruled by things they did or didn't do, or ways they did or didn't act decades ago. This has given way to a lifestyle of worry. It seems every action is second guessed, every conversation, present as well as past, is replayed in their mind worrying if somebody was upset by what was said, or how it was said, or by what may have been unsaid.

As I ponder this situation and struggle with how to deal with this person, I am reminded of just how short life is here on this earth. We weren't created to be consumed by the haunting mistakes of our past. He wishes that we "redeem the time for the days are evil," rather squander what little time we have being so paralyzed by the past. But this person has allowed worry and fear to rob them of the Joy of Life. Not just the joy they may have missed over these past decades, but also they have robbed them self of any joy that the future may hold for them. What is even harder is that this person knows this is no way to live. They know they need to release their grip on the past and follow Paul's advice,

"But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13b,14

I don't even know if anybody will be reading this. But if you do, please pray for this person.


"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past." Isaiah 43:18