This Easter, I want to share how regret rendered me powerless and how Jesus rescued me. Regret is a feeling of sadness or disappointment over something we’ve done or failed to do. I turned 60 last year, and I looked back over my life with regret. I thought about my sins of commission and sins of omission. “If only I could go back knowing what I know now…” 

Well, anytime you begin to accuse yourself, you know who is going to come alongside and offer to help you with it…Satan, the accuser.  I started to have regrets further and further back in my childhood.  The torment became so bad that even objects in my hand became associated with a regret that I was continually reminded of.

I prayed and had a list of scriptures about ‘Who I am in Christ,’ but I couldn’t budge the regret mindset. What does regret do?  If you’re afraid of doing something you’ll regret, you’ll do nothing.  If you’re afraid of saying something you‘ll regret, you’ll say nothing.  When you get stuck in the past, it’s always at the expense of the future.  Regret immobilises and silences you, which is exactly what Satan wants.    

No matter the battle, do not put down your sword!  I was following my daily devotional and read a Scripture in Isaiah 53:10 & 11.

‘Yet it was the will of the Lord (God) to crush Him (Jesus the Messiah); He has put Him to grief; when His soul makes an offering for guilt, He shall see His offspring, He shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.  Out of the anguish of His soul, He shall see and be satisfied…’   

The Messiah will be put to grief and at the end of it, be satisfied.  I thought, ‘That’s a different way of looking at it.’  I knew Jesus said, ‘It is finished,’ but the word ‘satisfied’ piqued my interest.  I looked the passage up in a commentary.  This is what it said about Jesus being satisfied…

Jesus regrets nothing.  Jesus…regrets…nothing!

I felt the presence of Jesus fall on me as I tried to comprehend the enormity of what I had read.        

In John 8, verse 42, Jesus talks to the Pharisees and says, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but He sent me.’  Jesus’ friends deserted Him.  He was an innocent man, put on trial in a religious court and a Roman court.  He was rejected, falsely accused, beaten, and spat on. He was scourged, mocked, hit, stripped naked and nailed to a cross.  Because of the command Jesus received from His Father, His death was completely voluntary.  He submitted to death and then emerged from it victoriously alive!  (John 10:17-18)

Jesus regrets nothing!

Armed with this fresh revelation, I had some work to do!   Every time a regret rose in my mind, I’d tell Satan:  ‘Well, God loves me so much He sent Jesus, and Jesus regrets nothing!  And God has cast my sins into the sea of His forgetfulness. (Micah 7:19) God blots out my transgressions! (Isaiah 44:22) But as you have reminded me of so and so or such and such, I’ll take a minute to pray for them or about it.’  It’s amazing how turning an accusation into praise and worship and prayer time suddenly silences Satan!

This Easter, remember God’s great love for you.  The proof is that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  (Romans 5:8)  If you are struggling in any way, trust God for a fresh revelation, take up your sword of the Spirit and fight!