You can sense it, feel it, and see a hint of it, even when it’s not quite here yet. There is a crispness to the early morning, a softer, more southerly sun, a touch of yellow or red on the leaves. Ahhh . . . fall.

I love the change of seasons, especially from summer to fall. Summer here can be so incredibly hot that when the temperatures begin to drop . . . even for a day or two . . . everyone gets excited because we know fall is not far off.

The official start of fall was last Thursday, and true to form, we had a perfect fall day: the temperature never topped 78, a strong breeze swirled the falling leaves, and sweaters were donned for the first time in over three months, albeit only for a few of the morning hours. I know there will still be some warm, even hot days still to come, but these will now be the anomaly, not the norm.

Though each of us might have our favorite season, all seasons have their own beauty, don’t they? Even those harsh winters and summers some of us experience have some redeeming qualities. But were it not for a harsh winter, the spring wouldn’t be so sweet. If not for the spring rains, the sun of summer wouldn’t be so welcomed.

We all go through seasons in our own lives as well: times of extreme joy, of ease, of comfort, and times of sorrow and loss. During these latter times it is difficult to see the beauty that might come out of the harshness of a difficult season, but it will come. Ecclesiastes 3 is so well known that we often forget the point of the very first verse.  

“To everything there is a season A time for every purpose under heaven.” (Emphasis mine)

Every season has a purpose, the Bible tells us that if we are one of God’s children, then we are “called according to His purpose” and everything in all of the seasons of our lives are working “together for good.” Romans 8:28.

Wherever you are, I hope you enjoy this fall . . . then winter . . . and spring . . . and summer.

Satan has many ways of attacking us –– to take away our joy, to cause us to doubt God’s goodness, to cripple us from living an abundant life, to make us ineffective.  Most are very personalized, playing on individual weaknesses, such as insecurity or pride or fear or shame. But there is one area that is common to all of us, and Satan uses this one with a vengeance–Regret.

Regret is probably the strongest weapon in Satan’s arsenal because 1) all of us have or will experience it, and 2) it involves areas that we can’t change. We have said or done something we now wish we hadn’t, or we didn’t do or say something we now wish we had. The first we can no longer do anything about, and the second, though we might be able to come back and fill in the gaps, our actions or words are often too late to have the same impact.

So we apologize and try to make amends, but we have no control over the other person’s feelings or reactions and that’s often what we want to fix. We want to know that they feel fine and don’t harbor any ill will against us. Regret hits even harder if the person we have injured has passed away before we realize or rectify out lost or misused opportunities.

Not a one of us will escape regretting past actions, but none of us has to live under the weight of regret’s oppression, which is exactly what Satan wants us to do. Satan wants us to believe that claiming God’s promises is letting ourselves off the hook, and he wants us to suffer.

But staying in a perpetual state of suffering is actually the easy option. Claiming God’s promises is often harder for us to do, but God does give four distinct promises that should help us overcome regret.

First, we sincerely repent, not because we got caught or feel bad, which is a worldly approach, but because we are truly sorry. 2 Corinthians 7:10 –– “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

Second, we can accept God’s total cleansing. I John 1:9 –– “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Third, we are told to forget the past and move on. Philippians 3:13 –– “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.”

And finally, fully accept that God can and does create something good out of everything, even our mistakes. Romans 8:28 –– “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

Remember, Satan’s sole purpose is to devour us (I Peter 5:8), but if we remain caught in a cycle of regret, we are devouring ourselves, making his task a whole lot easier.

So let us instead always remember that though we may not be able to alter our past, God can change our future.

This last weekend saw the fruition of an event I had been working on since February. Yes, I had a co-chair and a wonderful committee, but still I had a lot of personal responsibility. As much as I enjoyed the event itself, let’s just say that Monday morning I was “relieved” it was over. Very relieved.

Relief is defined as the “alleviation, ease, or deliverance through the removal of pain, distress, oppression, etc.” I think all of us have experienced that wonderful feeling of relief.

The mid ‘70s saw a commercial for heartburn that used the slogan “How do you spell relief?” Even today those 7 letters come rolling off my tongue even though the product itself is no longer on the shelf because of massive recalls. Ah, the power of advertising.

We will never be without events in our lives that cause us to be nervous or fearful, some more serious than others, but there is another source of “relief.” One that will work on not only “heart burn” but on stress, distress, pain, doubt, fear, and everything else that might rob us of our peace. There is a remedy that will not lose its shelf life or its potency or be tainted by outside agencies. Wouldn't it be nice if those 9 letters came to mind just as quickly as a commercial jingle does? Wouldn’t it be nice if “Trust in God” didn’t just roll off our tongues but penetrated our hearts and minds, too, for He does promise peace––perfect peace.

You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts You. (Is. 26:3)

I woke up the other morning to the sound of falling water. To those of us in the Northstate in the throes of summer heat, this is a pleasant sound indeed. However, as I became more cognizant, the sound became a little more distinct, and had a certain rhythm to it, like a Rainbird sprinkler. Now this was NOT a good sound, since that particular station started at three in the morning and was supposed to run only fifteen minutes. It was now 6:30 a.m. Though we had been taken off water restrictions this year, I was still disturbed by the pooling of water that had taken place. Needless to say, my mental abacus was also calculating the cost of that water.

Now I am not plumbing deficient. I know a thing or two about PVC pipe and connectors, so I ran out to the sprinkler valves, saw the culprit, twisted a few knobs and heard the solenoid make that definitive sucking sound that meant the valve had closed. Safe. Or so I thought.

I then left for my day’s worth of activity and meetings only to return at 4 p.m. and be greeted by . . . yes . . . you guessed it . . . those same sprinklers running. Now I had ponds–not pools–and the mental calculations were already telling me that I would have to give up showering, laundry, and dishes for a month to recoup both water and money.

I now did what I should have done in the first place. Stop the bleeding. I turned off the water to the back yard. Then I did the second smartest move of the day . . . I called my father. Now I figured I could change out the valve . . . it looked pretty straight forward, and I had watched him change a few in my lifetime. The conversation with my father, as he walked me through the process, confirmed that I would have been 80% correct. But then he gave me the best advice of the day. “Have your gardener do it for you. He does this all the time.”

At times, many of us encounter valve trouble of a very different kind–an emotional or spiritual heart valve problem. Despite our weak attempts to fix it, sometimes we can’t stop the hurt or bitterness or doubt from seeping in, or we shut off our heart to others completely. At other times we open ourselves to temptation but shut out grace and mercy.

However, we do have a Father to call upon, a Master Gardener, a Great Physician, who has experience at mending broken and dysfunctional hearts. I just heard the new version of “Just As I Am” by Travis Cottrel. The verses are still the wonderful old hymn, but the new chorus adds a beautiful new dimension:
    
    I come broken to be mended
    I come wounded to be healed
    I come desperate to be rescued
    I come empty to be filled
    I come guilty to be pardoned
    By the blood of Christ the Lamb
    And I'm welcomed with open arms
    Praise God, just as I am


To listen to the full version of the song, just copy the link below into your browser.  And if you are suffering from a broken heart, may you be healed and blessed.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=new+version+of+just+as+i+am