Regret
Today is the beginning of Lent. I don't know that I've ever actually made it through a 40 days fast, now a 40 day fix on Jesus, yes! Below is a recommendation from Faithgateway which popped up in my emails today suggesting a new kind of fast.
Here is what they say about author Alicia Britt Chole's book 40 Days of Decrease
"It’s a journey through 40 heart fasts for 40 days, a different fast each day, where we give up things that hold us back spiritually like regret, comparison, disappointment, escapism, and more.
I want to make space for Easter celebration and joy in my heart. I want to rid the clutter that has built up during the pandemic. Irritation, loneliness, wariness have got to go! I long for more longing of the Holy Spirit’s fire within me! I want the kind of awe that the disciples felt staring at the empty tomb, or seeing Jesus’ risen body standing before them! … And I want to break free from unhealthy thoughts and focus on Jesus alone. "
Day 1 is fasting from regret. My friend went to be with Jesus yesterday. I'll admit right now that since the heart wrenching phone call Saturday telling me she was dying, I had regrets for us not making more time to be together. As mothers living in the same city we spent so much time together while our children played; as grandmothers living an hour apart we did not make the time. Ha! I think that is because we were plum tuckered out after our grandmother duties. Also, health issues had robbed a lot of energy from each of us and neither of us drove long distances as much.
I thank God for this reminder that regret is a robber and I will not go there, but find my joy in Jesus as He was the grand Connector in my relationship with this friend and we shall never be apart.
Mrs. Chole writes:
"Regret empties anticipation, flattens dreams, and suffocates hope, because regret is a form of self-punishment. Whereas hindsight helps us learn from the past, regret beats us up with the past.
So for one entire day (or go for forty), I invite you to fast regret. Do not feed it. Do not give it space. Let it go: God’s mercies are 'new every morning' (Lamentations 3:23). And meditate on Jesus’ glorious promise from Revelation 21:5, ' am making everything new!' "
TODAY’S READING: JOHN 12:12–19
The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,“Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!” His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”
This link takes you to a free download and the first 6 chapters of the book.
The Song Hello My Name Is" Matthew West
