Regrets and Opportunities – April 09, 2000
As we pick our way through the maze of life, we find that wrong turns and misread maps cause inevitable delays. We get lost, and we have to ask directions; we take shortcuts, only to find ourselves struggling through jungles of error and heartbreak. And as we near the end of our journey, we look back over the trails we’ve taken and shake our heads in chastened regret. But it’s never too late to backtrack, to choose a better path. It’s never too late to begin again.
A businessman decided to quit his job and start a new company. At first, he worked with great enthusiasm, and his long hours seemed to pay off. His wife, who wanted only for her husband to be happy, supported his decision and silenced her own nagging doubts, insecurities, and financial fears. Then came a setback. A major client chose to buy a competitor’s products, and the young business faltered. The businessman became discouraged. It became more and more difficult for him to summon up the energy he once had to put in the long hours a fledgling company demands.
The businessman’s wife went to her knees in prayer, trying to understand. The decision to begin a new business had seemed right. What had gone wrong? When would the insecurity and uncertainty end? Had her husband lost his only chance at happiness?
But as she prayed, she began to feel a kind of peace. She remembered that her husband had been miserable in his old job. The decision to start a new business was the right one. They’d made some wrong turns and suffered some difficulties. But it was always possible for both of them to retrace their steps, discover where they’d gone off the path, and start over. With renewed faith and courage, she told her husband of her continuing support for his decision. They talked about ways they could both economize and make a success of the new business. Their renewed energy and sacrifice began to pay off, and the business again prospered.
When we make a wrong turn, it’s always possible to turn back, to learn from a mistake, to repent from a sin. Sometimes, it seems easier to give up, or worse, to continue down a wrong path toward catastrophe and heartbreak. But with God’s help, we can always turn around, read the map again, find where we’ve gone wrong, choose a better course. With God’s help, we can start again.
Program #3686