Regret to Redemption--Introduction

It's almost Easter and I wonder if any of us remember our New Year's Resolution?  I not only do not remember it, I don't remember if I even made one. 👵 Along with a resolution, it's become trendy to declare a "word of the year" for yourself.  According to Google, the way to choose a guiding word is to think back over your last year; write down your values, intentions, and goals for the future.  Now read over it all and find connecting themes.  Make a vision board, narrow it down, then go "live" your word.  Some options given for 2024 were purpose, balance, gratitude, joy, clarity, intention.

I am not disciplined enough to do all of these steps (although I am intrigued by a vision board, and I'm heading to pinterest next for all the tips...) yet I do have a word that keeps coming to mind.   Two years ago it was "rehearse".  I needed to repeat what I knew to be true until it became the soundtrack playing in the background of my daily thoughts and actions.  Last year, it was "rehearse" again because I was apparently terrible at it and kept going back to the old, grumpy, sinful, critical soundtrack.  This year it's--you guessed it--it is rehearse again.  I have to work hard every day to train my mind to choose the words of God; some days I succeed, other days I fail.  

The Bible is full of "re" words.   Repent, resurrection, rejoice, remembrance, return, reconciliation, regret, redemption.  Re is a prefix meaning "again".   I went down a rabbit hole of etymology--Greek, French, Old English, Latin.  Some of these words are nearly impossible in English to separate from the prefix.  (For example, we can't imagine ever saying "Joice again" for rejoice, but the original word would mean find joy again and again.)  

My word "rehearse" comes from the root word "harrow", which means to turn over the soil.  So rehearse would be to turn over again and again.  We see that in rehearsing for a speech or a play or a wedding...We turn the words over and over,  again and again, to become so familiar with them that we can speak them as naturally as our own thoughts.   When I am not faithful to rehearse, I am filled with regret.  I mean seriously, how hard is it???  Just find the good word of God and let it play in your mind.  As a third year tryer and failer, it's hard. I stumble, I mumble, I say a lot of "ummmms", because I'm not prepared!!!   The failure leads to regret.  Regret has an etymology of weep, so weep again and again. 100% BEEN THERE.  But God redeems my failure.  He redeems my regret.  He buys it back, again and again.  Jesus, our Redeemer, bought us back in salvation, and He buys back our daily failures in sanctification.  When we put our regret in His hands, it's safely paid for and forgiven.  

Over the course of the rest of the year, I am going to intentionally look for times in the Bible that God took regret and reversed it.  He turned the curse to a blessing.  Again and Again.  I don't want to live with regret.  I don't think you want to live with regret.  I know God doesn't want us to live with regret.  Let's encourage each other by testifying to His redemption!!  

"Let the redeemed of the LORD proclaim that He has redeemed them from the power of the enemy."

Psalm 107:2