About Regrets, Mistakes and Trusting God

"You hide behind your walls
of maybe nevers
Forgetting that there's something more
than just knowing better.
Your mistakes do not define you now.
They tell you who you're not.
You've got to live this life you're given
like it's the only one you've got."

It's The Only One You've Got by 3 Doors Down
© Universal Music Publishing Group


One of my dearest friends told me some time ago how she learned to live her life with no regrets. It followed a near death experience she shared with her husband and two young sons (although not so young anymore) on an airplane flight that didn't go as planned (I believe the plane experienced some sort of mechanical failure) and the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing.

At first afraid, she remembered grabbing hold to her husband's hand and then being very grateful. "If my life ends here," she prayed, "it has been a rich one." She considered how she had been blessed to marry her best friend, to have two wonderful sons and to have done and experienced many other wonderful things that seemed unimaginable to her as a child growing up in Vietnam. After reaching their destination shaken, but safe, my friend determined that going forward she would live her life regret-free by making every interaction count, saying what she feels, and pursuing her dreams, even if she failed.

I don't think anyone plans to live a life full of regrets, but sometimes we allow fear, past hurts and mistakes to so paralyze us that we don't seize the moments and opportunities that are given to us to live our dreams. I've made many mistakes in my life—I still make them—and I've experienced many deep hurts and disappointments. I've even experienced the dream wrecking paralysis. But life moves forward, never backwards.

One of the most difficult parts of my journey with Christ is learning to place my mistakes, hurts, disappointments, and even my fear, into His hands each day so that I can move forward with Him. It requires of me a trust like I've never known. And yet, His word promises that I will live a life without regrets when I follow where He leads me.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11