Finding Grace For The Regrets Of 2019
As we move from 2019 into 2020 there is a particular type of person that I want to offer hope to. That type of person is someone who looks back over the past year and is plagued by guilt over the mistakes and sins of 2019.
There are millions of reasons you could look back on the past year with regrets. You may have found yourself committing sins you vowed you never would. You might have hurt someone that you deeply loved. You might have run from God, denied Him, or thrown your life away. If you resonate with the kind of person that has been described thus far, here are six anchors that will hold you amidst the waves of regret.
1- We are sinful And God is infinitely more kind than we can imagine.
Psalm 103: 8 “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” Forgiveness is always preceded by repentance. But if we do repent. If we do turn from our sins, not in perfection, but in heart. Then we will find that God will lavish His love upon us (Ephesians 1:8). Steadfast means to be with through the long haul. The ups and downs. God’s love does not rise and fall with our strength. It is a steadfast love.
2- God promises to forgive and cleanse.
Have you gone further than you ever thought into the depths of your sins over the past year? Take heart! I can tell you from personal experience, there is no darkness of your soul that God will not look dead in the eyes and say, “My son, my daughter. I forgive you. And not only that. But I will also cleanse you to-the-core.”
1st John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” All sins can be forgiven. We are often left feeling unlovable and stained after our darkest sins surface. This is when we must preach to ourselves. Christ not only died to absolve our just guilt from us, but also cleanse us! When God looks at you He sees Christ’s righteousness. In Christ, you do not disgust Him.
3- You are not a second class christian.
I recently confessed to some friends that because of sin I felt like a second class Christian. They encouraged me to go back to the scriptures and when I did, I remembered 1st Peter 1:19: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.”
If an object derives its value from the price that is willingly paid for it. What does it say about us, God’s people, that He paid an infinite cost for us? All who are purchased and drawn near with the precious blood of Christ will never be called second class Christians. The Father, when the prodigal son comes home, places a robe on him, and a ring on his finger. He is not counted as a servant but as a son. We are God’s children. He does not need us, but he wants us. He wants you and He’s purchased you with the sacrifice of Jesus.
4- God was aware of all the sins you would walk in and still he wanted to die for you.
Do you remember the story of Peter? He walked intimately with Jesus for years! They ministered together. They healed sick babies and cast out demons. And then on that night, Jesus tells Peter that before the rooster crows Peter will deny knowing Him three times.
Do you feel like Peter as you look back at 2019? Like you threw it away? Like you turned your back on God? We see from this story that Jesus knew Peter would deny Him (Luke 22:32). It’s not a surprise to God that Peter is going to fail miserably. Don’t downplay what Peter did, He forsook Jesus. And yet, Jesus saw the depravity of Peters' heart all the way to the bottom. And what?
With this full knowledge of all that Peter was going to do, Jesus still went to the cross to die for his sins! And so it is with you and I. On the cross Jesus had full knowledge of all that we would be. Every lie, every sin, every imperfection. And He still chose to die for you! Romans 5:6: "For at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. " He didn’t die for the perfect, godly, strong you! He died for the weak and ungodly you. Take heart. This most recent sin has not given God any new knowledge of you that He did not previously have on the cross. As J.I. Packer concludes:
This is momentous knowledge. There is unspeakable comfort—the sort of comfort that energizes, not enervates (weakens or depresses)—in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love and watching over me for my good. There is tremendous relief in knowing that his love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench his determination to bless me.
He sees all the twisted things about me that my fellow-men do not see, and that he sees more corruption in me than that which I see in myself. For some unfathomable reason, He wants me as His friend, and desires to be my friend, and has given His Son to die for me in order to realize this purpose.
—Knowing God (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 41-42, emphasis added.
The mistakes of 2019 did not surprise God. He was aware! There is tremendous hope in this reality. That God, who is perfectly holy, has seen the depths of your sinfulness, and with that full knowledge of you, has decided, “This man or woman is going to be mine. And whatever price I must pay to cleanse them, redeem them, and show them the love I have for them I will pay. Even if it costs me the most precious thing to me in the universe, my beloved Son.” His depth of love covers our depth of sin. Your weakness does not define you. God loves the present you, not a future better version of you.
5- Bitter weeping is not wasted
When Peter denied Jesus three times, the text says that he went away “weeping bitterly.” There is a darkness we can enter into after deep sin. I don’t want to paint an unrealistic picture that just because we have beautiful truths that they change the reality of consequences or sweep things under the rug. God has fatherly displeasure towards our sinfulness, but that displeasure is never divorced from His deep love and care for us. You will feel bad about your sins and that is ok, to a point. Because feeling the weight of sin and the guilt of our mistakes helps us grow more holy.
Moving forward and moving on are two different things. We never move on from sin. It has, in a sense, permanent earthly consequences both on us and on others in this life. So yes, we will weep bitterly over our mistakes. But take heart, you will not be alone in the weeping.
"Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light." (Micah 7:8-9)
Weep. See sin for what it is. Bitter weeping has its purposes. We often allow it to drive us further into sin and away from God. But oh that it would help us see the gravity and ugliness of sin, and throw us all the more into the loving and kind arms of God! Don't waste your bitter weeping! Use it! Use it! Let it blow all the allure of sin out of your heart! And let it lead you to the one who knows you. He will be a light to you and in due time, will bring you out of the darkness. There is no consequence of your sins that God has not promised to walk through with you, giving you grace and strength to endure. Learn gusty guilt.
6- You can be restored
Psalm 103 says:
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
When you look back and see the ugly face of past sins, take this passage and preach it to yourself. “As far as the east is from the west so far does he remove our transgression from us!” Removed. Or look at Micah 7:19 “Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!” Oh friends, is there any better news? Our sins have been thrown into the depths of the ocean, cast under miles and miles of water. It’s a metaphor for the permanence of God’s cleansing power. Whatever 2019 held for you, know that if you turn, repent, seek God again, He will restore.
God delights to Renew. Redeem. Refresh. Remake. He can and He will. Say with David, as he faced regret for his sins in Psalm 23: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.” There is so much hope in Jesus! So much hope. God can look you in the eyes like Jesus did with Peter. Seeing the failure you've been. And not give up on you. Keep running to Him. Let us look to Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. The lifeblood of the Christian is not our strength, but how Christ has been all that we could not.
His purity covers our impurity. His strength covers our weakness. His faith covers our faithlessness. On the beach when Jesus returns to Peter after his betrayal, he asked three times if Peter loved Him. In a sense, He was atoning for the three times Peter denied Him. And then he simply said- “feed my sheep. Follow me.”
God’s call is the same to you. Did you fail in 2019? Seek Christ. Repent of your sins. Do business with God. Then follow Him, your story is not over. The past does not define you. Christ does. He will not give up on you.
Trusting with you that His mercies are new every morning,
Josh.
