.....pity

Last Saturday, along with millions of other fans, I watched my favorite team play football. Yesterday, social media lit up with hundreds of posts from fans of every team that lost.  Most came from "amateur coaches" and "Monday Morning Quarterbacks", who obviously knew more than the coach about what plays to call and what should have been done. 

If you summarized what they all said, it was statements such as... 

     "If only the coach had/hadn't...."

     "If only the referee had/hadn't..." 

     "If we had just made that field goal..."

     "if we didn't commit that penalty..."

     "If we had only saved that time out..." 

     "I wish we had run instead of passing..."

     "Or conversely, I wish we passed instead of running..."

As I read those posts, I reflected on how many times we can easily live our lives based on a "What if" or a "If only" or a "If only I had/hadn't" statements or other some other fantasy world thinking where we think we can somehow change the past. 

"Leaving the Pity Party"

I had not really planned on taking a trip this time of year, and yet, I found myself packing rather hurriedly. This trip was going to be unpleasant, and I knew in advance that no real good would come of it - I'm talking about my annual "Guilt Trip." 

I got tickets to fly there on "Wish-I-Had" Airlines. I got my baggage, which I could have checked, but didn't - because I chose to carry all my baggage all the way by myself. It was weighted down with a thousand memories of "what might have been". No one greeted me as I entered the terminal to the "Regret City International Airport". 

As I checked into the "Last Resort Hotel", I noticed that they would be hosting the year's most important event, "The Annual Pity Party". I wasn't going to miss that great social occasion. Many of the town's leading citizens would be there. 

First, there would be the "Done Family" - you know, "Should Have", "Would Have" and "Could Have". Then came the "Wish I Had" family. You probably know of "Wish I Had" and his clan. Of course, "The Opportunities" would be present - "Missed" and "Lost". The biggest family would be "The Yesterday's". There are far too many of them to count, but each one would have a very sad story to share. 

Then "Shattered Dreams" would surely make an appearance. And "It's Their Fault" would regale us with his stories about how things had failed in his life, and each story would be loudly applauded by "Don't Blame Me" and "I Couldn't Help It". 

Well, to make a long story short, I went to this depressing party knowing that there would be no real benefit in doing so. And, as usual, I became very depressed. But, as I thought about all of the stories of failures brought back from the past, it occurred to me that all of this trip and all of the subsequent "Pity Parties" could be canceled - BY ME! I started to truly realize that I did not have to be there. I didn't have to be depressed. 

One thought kept going through my mind, "I can't change yesterday, but I do have The Holy Spirit living in me to make today a wonderful day".  I can be happy, joyous, fulfilled, encouraged, content, blessed and totally at peace - because my sins have been forgiven and I will spend eternity with my Savior. I know who I am and where I am in Christ and I know where I'll be when I die.  Knowing this, I left "The City of Regret" immediately and left no forwarding address. 

Am I sorry for mistakes I've made in the past? YES! But there is no physical way to undo them, and more importantly, they've all been forgiven - no matter how bad they were. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "If any man is in Christ, He is a new Creature.  Old Things are past away; behold, all things are become new."

So, if you're planning a trip back to "The City of Regret" (located between the land of "What If..." and country of "If Only..."), please cancel all your reservations now. Instead, take a trip to a place called "Starting Again". I liked it so much that I have now taken up permanent residence there. My neighbors, the "I Have Been Forgiven's" and the "New Starts in Christ" are so very helpful and encourage me each day. 

By the way, you don't have to carry around all of your heavy baggage, because the load is lifted from your shoulders upon arrival. God bless you in finding this great town. His Holy Word has all the directions you need. When you find it, please look me up. I live on "I-Can-Do-All-Things-Through-Christ Street!!! 

- dave langerfeld