Daily Delight
Now that 2017 has ended and I have had some time to reflect on this last year, I’ve realized that I have struggled a lot with regret; regretting the decisions I’ve made this year, the moments I didn’t take, the doors I didn’t walk into because I was afraid. I have found myself trembling at the thoughts of some of my decisions—doubting so deeply the paths I have chosen to take.
Can anyone else relate?
“You are an artist, but your heart is your masterpiece.” The words of Sleeping at Last's "I'll Keep You Safe" have really captivated my heart recently. Putting this in the perspective of our Father, we are on a lifetime gardening project with Him, and He’s asked us to tend our hearts with Him. We will experience hurt, and most definitely regret, but we can have confidence that the darkness of our past can be rewritten because the chains of remorse no longer take any hold.
He has called us to arise in His righteousness, for His glory and light has risen within us to shine among the nations (Isaiah 60). Timothy Keller, in his book The Meaning of Marriage, talks about how we, as children of God, are working towards our “glory-selves"—those who we were created to be. In the light of His righteousness, we can take hold of the promise of what our Father sees in us as we embark on a lifetime of discovering the purpose and growth of our hearts. How exciting is it that our divine God is journeying with us on this adventure? I don’t know about you, but that makes me want to move beyond my regret and press on towards what is ahead.
Sisters, take confidence in the journey that God and is walking with us—forming us and keeping us safe in the moments that we may fall. Regret is a nasty shadow that tries to crawl into our lives and bring nothing but anxiety, depression, and unrest. Take comfort, dear heart, in the fact that sometimes the paths we didn’t take are strange means of protection. Though we may feel the heart-aching blow now, so often we stand back and see how we were shielded, and in the end, how our heart was kept safe.
{photo: @stephespineli}
About the Author
Jess Palmer
Jess is a designer and innovator in Pretoria, South Africa. Her heart is to express the beauty of our Father’s heart through all forms of art, but mainly through her design, poetry and photography. She desires to invest in the lives of people around her — to journey with them in cultivating their God-given potential. If anywhere, you will find Jess musing in a coffee shop or wandering contemplatively in a garden.
Her blog: https://astrangerhereblog.wordpress.com/
Check out her design on Instagram: @salt.seed