Your Call

Ps.18:^20-24 (MSG) “God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him. When I got my act together, he gave me a fresh start… I feel put back together, and I’m watching my step. God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.”

God specializes in new beginnings but for you to enjoy it, you need to let go of the pain of the past. The way a lot of people deal with regret is to blame or to bury. People try to bury regret with so many things; with addiction, with work, with different types of habits. But after it is all said and done, the regret is still there. When people are unsuccessful at burying, they switch to blaming. Some blame their parents for not sending them to good schools. Someone told me that he blames his parents for the quality of his life. Instead of investing in his education, he said his parents were more interested in partying. My question to him and to you is, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to live your life blaming or are you going to get up and take control of your life?

People blame their spouses; someone said he blames his wife for his potbelly. The said the reason he has a potbelly is because she is always preparing a feast of good meals. “Even the Bible says lead us not into temptation”, he said. You would always find someone else to blame. But when are you going to take control of your life? What is it going to be? A friend of mine was telling me about a fellow golfer that blames every bad shot he plays on someone or something. One day, while he was playing, a plane was flying above. It just so happened that his shot was bad, and he blamed it on the plane. This man blames monkeys for jumping on the trees and birds for flying.

Why do we blame? People do it because they do not want to take responsibility. People blame because they do not want to be held accountable for their own lives. But no matter how good you are at blaming, life does not change and become better because you have blamed. Your life only becomes better when you take responsibility, so give your life to God. Even if, like humpty dumpty, your life is in pieces, give the broken pieces to God. God wants you to be free from the pain of yesterday. Rom.3:^23-24 (TLB, with emphasis) “All of us have sinned… yet God declares us ‘not guilty’ if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in His mercy freely takes away our sins.”

God declares you as not guilty on one condition, put your trust in Jesus Christ. It is possible to faithfully attend church, yet your trust is not in Jesus. You can be religious and yet not put your trust in Jesus. But God says you can become not guilty if you put your trust in Jesus. Job 11:^13-16 (GN) “Put your heart right, reach out to God… then face the world again, firm and courageous. Then all your troubles will fade from your memory like floods that are past and remembered no more.”  Then gratitude will flow from you genuinely and consistently.

Prayer: Jesus, my trust is in You alone, free me from the pain of the past, in Jesus Name. Amen!