As for me, I call to God,and the Lord saves me.17 Evening, morning and noonI cry out in distress,and he hears my voice.18 He rescues me unharmedfrom the battle waged against me, Psalm 55: 17-18

As for me, I call to God,and the Lord saves me.17 Evening, morning and noonI cry out in distress,and he hears my voice.18 He rescues me unharmedfrom the battle waged against me, Psalm 55: 17-18

re·gret
/rəˈɡret/
verb

1.feel sad, repentant, or disappointed over (something that has happened or been done, especially a loss or missed opportunity):"she immediately regretted her words"synonyms:be sorry about, feel contrite about, feel remorse about/for, be remorseful about, rue, repent (of), feel repentant about, be regretful at/about, mourn, grieve for/over, feel grief at, weep over, sigh over, feel sad about, lament, sorrow for, deplore






All of us who experience the loss of a loved one will experience regret.

"She would still be alive if only I had only provided better care"

"If I had done a better job monitoring my father's health he would still be alive!"

"If I hadn't worked so hard I would have noticed my loved one was in distress"

"If I had only sought that second opinion then my child would still be alive"

'If only I had called them sooner  they might still be alive.'

The battle with the 'if only's' echoes in our minds weeks and months after we buried their body in the ground. The echoes grow louder near anniversaries of our loved one's death. or those times something reminds us of them. We know intellectually that we did all we could for our loved one who has died, but our emotions are slow in accepting that fact. 

Like a never-ending roller coaster, we ride those extreme emotions. In the beginning phases of my grief, as I faced those uncharted emotions,  I found comfort from the Psalms because they were honest expressions to those in pain crying out to God.


I learned in my own grief that God isn't afraid of my emotional outbursts for it is in those emotional outbursts that God is drawn near me.  I can honestly say that God has never abandoned me and he will also never abandon you in your pain.

We may on an intellectual level accept the death of our loved one, but it will take many months to reconcile our emotions of the loss. 

Like the waves of an ocean, we must process each emotion at a time.

There may be many regrets we may have for the one who died.  Our mind may try to convince us that we didn't spend enough time with our loved one, nor did we do the proper job monitoring their health situation. We must allow ourselves to cry over each emotion   For it is the tears our tear ducts generate that bring healing to our soul.

I learned that when we're in pain, our faith in God becomes our best Allie. We may not feel like we can emotionally handle going to Church on the Sabbath, but we know we must go- for it is in praising our Lord Jesus and learning to share our stories with others we trust that healing to us.

Finally, in the book of Deuteronomy 31:6 we are reminded of these words, '"Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you."