ODB: Of Pain and Gain
April 16, 2011
Present choices determine future rewards.
READ: Psalm 32
Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him. —Psalm 32:10
During summer training camp, the coaches on one football team wore T-shirts intended to urge their players to exert maximum effort. The shirts bore the motto, “Each day you must choose: The pain of discipline or the pain of regret.” Discipline is tough—and something we may try to avoid. But in sports and in life, short-term pain is often the only path to long-term gain. In the heat of battle it is too late to prepare. Either you are ready for the challenges of life or you will be haunted by the “what ifs,” “if onlys,” and “I should’ves” that accompany the failure to be prepared. That’s the pain of regret.
One source defines regret as “an intelligent and emotional dislike for personal past acts and behaviors.” It’s painful to look back at our choices through the lens of regret and feel the weight of our failures. This was the case for the psalmist. After a personal episode of sin and failure, he wrote, “Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him” (Ps. 32:10). In the clarity of hindsight, he saw the wisdom of a life that strives to honor the Lord—a life that does not need to be marked by regret.
May our choices today not result in regret, but rather be wise and God-honoring.
— Bill Crowder
Source: Our Daily Bread
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For me, regrets are like wounds, they serve to remind me of the danger and the need to trust the Lord more with each passing day. Personally, I think it is also part of wisdom. We are considered wise to take heed of the God’s warning not to commit the same mistakes again and to avoid sins at all cost. Godly fear.