My husband, Neil, and I have squirrels, ducks, rabbits, and lots of birds that visit our yard every spring. We’ve also had the occasional opossum drawn by the suet-filled bird feeders.
All these critters started visiting our yard after our cats passed away and we opted not to adopt other pets.
One, and possibly two, of the squirrels just had litters. The multitude of ducks seems to be drastically enlarging, as well. I believe we now have at least four sets of ducks and one old single drake.
Of course, this menagerie started because I fed the birds from a birdfeeder and the others enjoyed the bird’s dropped tidbits. But, as the critters started to accumulate under the feeder, I started feeding them, too. Corn hanging from the tree for the squirrels and hand-plucked corn for the ducks.
Remember the saying about not biting the hand that feeds you? Well, the squirrels did not. They have ripped open three porch cushions and removed stuffing, I imagine, to make their nests softer. Talk about regret! So, now we are back to just the lone bird feeder – it was too little knowledge and too late.
I guess I was just imagining how fun it was for Adam and Eve in the original garden when the animals and humans got along so well. I picture the couple in the garden watching the sunset with foxes and doves sitting with them side-by-side without fear.
This squirrel episode made me think of how much we humans have lost because sin entered our world, and we are not in God’s peaceful garden any longer.
Eden was the perfect life until Adam and Eve were tempted and succumbed. They walked in the beautiful garden with God – their creator and friend. To have lost that face-to-face relationship had to be the saddest day of their lives. And, knowing they had been the start of the downhill slide of creation, I am sure Satan was pleased to place much guilt on them. Surely, they had regrets.
Regret of sin – it can almost bury us alive. I have things in my past for which I certainly wish I could erase, correct, or be able to change the outcome. I especially am sorry for not having totally obeyed God from the get-go.
When I gave my life to Him, I held a lot back – I realize now I gave God the stuff I didn’t want to hold onto and kept the rest to myself. Pretty selfish, don’t you think? It is like handing off that ugly vase that you never liked anyway. It has been a hard time of learning for me, but I finally arrived at the point where I understood it really is necessary to give it all to God.
When I was young, I thought God probably didn’t know me very well. Really? The one who created me wouldn’t know my most intimate details – how my mind works, the things that make me happy or sad? I had it all wrong at the time, and I must admit now that I wish I had committed my all to God earlier. If I had, I would now be living the life that He originally planned for me in all its beauty and marvelousness and not the wonderful, but altered, plan made necessary by my disobedience.
I’m reading Amy Carmichael’s biography and hers was a life dedicated to God at a very young age. She became missionary to India in the late 1800s and with a heart of obedience, she saved many children from death and detestable work within the temples. Her faith story is an amazing lesson in sacrifice and obedience.
Reading her biography made me consider the following: Might God have given me an assignment like that if I had turned my life wholly over to Him to start with? Ah, more regret?
Not so. Since understanding my disobedience, I have sought forgiveness from God, and I have handed over all my regrets to Him. Blessedly, He tells me, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”
I am very thankful that God forgave me and gave me a second chance. Adam and Eve couldn’t go back to Eden, and I can’t go back to my youth, but God has yet allowed me an opportunity to serve Him after I have finally turned from my ways to His ways.
Now, I look forward each day to what God has in store for me to do and within His strength, I do it. There are no more regrets because I am forgiven.
God is gracious. When His children are living with regret, He allows us the opportunity to repent and start over again in obedience, ready to wrap ourselves in His joy again.
ED. NOTE: Amy Patsch writes from Ocean City. Email her at writerGoodGod@gmail.com.
