No matter how much we try to know, we don’t know it all. There are always opportunities we can’t see. The Lord is always at work on something we don’t even know needs work. It seems that knowledge, no matter how fervently we chase it, eludes us in some ways.

Relying too heavily on our limited knowledge leaves us with regrets…or at least in the position of having to decide between making choices based on what we know versus what we believe.

Have you had to make a choice that you knew was right but that you thought you would regret? I have. Over and over again.

A long time ago, I turned down a job offer. For a position I’d prayed for for years. Every bit of limited knowledge I had said “make it work,” that this was the opportunity I’d been waiting for. The Lord told me no. When I said yes to Him and no to the offer, I thought I would regret it soon.

The next day, another call came. Another offer. The same kind of position –but somewhere else with better hours and better pay (and what turned out to be amazing people.) And it came with the peace of the Lord.

All I had to do was wait one day. I couldn’t have known what was coming. I couldn’t have known that it could get better than that first offer seemed. I couldn’t have known that regret for a day would be erased by the Lord to make the slate clean.

Thank the Lord –He knew. Thank the Lord –He even washes our regrets anew!

That’s what happens when we regret and the Lord erases it. We take a slate that we’ve muddied and dirtied with doubt and with whole reliance on reason, and we toss it out. Regret makes it seem like there is no turning back and that slate is now useless forever. He erases it, He makes it clean.

Romans 8:27-28 tells us that “He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.” (MSG)

Who would have thought that even our regrets could be used for the good of those who love Him?

Who would have thought that even our regrets could be used for the good of those who love Him?@BethanyMcIlrath
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For all the ways my knowledge fails me, I’ve found the Lord does not. Even when I fail. Even when my choices seem backwards, but right. He erases regret because regret it about my way –and when that slate is clean, He makes beautiful works of art that are better than anything I could ever dream.

Today I’m glad I turned down that job.

I’m glad that money has kept us at times from making decisions to do things more “typically” because we’ve had some amazing relationships out of it. I’m glad for some of my worst moments because, without some of the mistakes and brokenness I’ve regretted, I would never have let people into my heart as far as I have. These are some of my anti-regrets. These are what keep me saying “Yes, Lord” when I want to say “no.”

{A version of this post was previously published elsewhere}

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I spent the summer after my college freshmen year in ministry at Virginia Beach, Virginia with CRU (Campus Crusade for Christ). A mission at the beach—somebody had to do it. A young, crisp nineteen-year-old who wanted to make a difference in the world. Pursuing Christ with my whole heart and a passion to make Him known.

College students from across the U.S. and one from England completed training sessions to prepare us for evangelism. We shared the gospel on the boardwalk several nights a week with Saturdays devoted to ministry on the beach, suffering in sand and surf. Crowd-gathering events of volley-ball and slow-motion football provided opportunities to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ.

Instead of raising mission-trip fees, students secured weekday jobs to accommodate living expenses. Four of us (three girls and one guy) became gainfully employed at a McDonald’s close enough to our housing complex to walk to work. We traveled the boulevard during the wee hours of the morning before daybreak.

Deliberately Followed

But one dark morning brought an unexpected turn of events. Our male co-worker overslept and did not accompany us. As the three of us girls walked at breakneck speed, we passed a man loitering in a store-front a few blocks from the restaurant. We had seen him before and he had noticed us.

I never heard his footsteps. Without warning he grabbed me from behind and wrapped his arms around my chest. His chin pressed firmly into my neck as he murmured lewd words—his lips touching my ear.

In a split second, I imagined him dragging me into a nearby alley. God, please help me! I silently prayed.

Then, he released his grip and ran away. The girls with me appeared shell-shocked as they watched his shadow disappear past a streetlight and into the dark. I could not look back.

Frozen, my legs turned to rubber, barely able to carry me the rest of the way to McDonald’s…to safety. Breathless and terrified that he might still be lurking nearby or would come back for me.

Safe inside the doors at work, I called the married couple leading our beach project. After we filed a police report, I spent several hours lying on my bunk—tears streaming—begging the Lord to calm my spirit and thanking Him for protection from further harm.

The perpetrator knew our schedule, our every move. We traveled the same path at the same time each weekday. Three girls walking abandoned city streets without our male companion provided an auspicious moment.

Relentlessly Followed

Years later, I sense I’m relentlessly pursued once again. These two followers will not stop following me. They know the schedule I keep and the path I travel. This is an intentional pursuit from daybreak to nightfall and around the clock. After an investigation and reading the report on file, I’ve identified them:

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6, ESV).

God has assigned two followers to pursue His children. They know the schedule we keep and the path we travel. An intentional pursuit from daybreak to nightfall and around the clock. @FridayKaren #followed #WednesdayMotivation
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Goodness: Dictionary.com says it’s “the best part of anything.” God is the best part of anything. He’s the best part of life and the best part of me and you.

Goodness relentlessly follows us.

Mercy: translated by the NLT is “unfailing love.” It’s the compassion and kindness of God bringing forgiveness to mankind.

Mercy relentlessly follows us.

“The Lord is my Shepherd: I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1, ESV).

To ensure we will not want for the best part of life, the Great Shepherd has assigned Goodness and Mercy to pursue His sheep—chase after and follow—relentlessly. They stay on the heels of the sheep at all times and watch our every move.

The assignment duration? “All the days of my life.”

To ensure we will not want for the best part of life, the Great Shepherd assigned two followers to pursue His sheep all the days of our life. Psalm 23. @FridayKaren #followed #followers #Wednesdaythoughts
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Goodness and Mercy Follow Us

Goodness and Mercy follow us all the days of our life.

We will never hear goodness and mercy’s footsteps, but we are confident of their presence, wrapping their arms around us and never releasing their grip. And we will never watch their shadows disappear into the dark.

Friend, you are relentlessly followed.

People may follow us online and in life. But God promises to give His children two important #followers who relentlessly pursue us. Join @FridayKaren to discover their identity. Link up is open! Share your blog.
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Why, yes. Yes, there is! And we have access to front-row-seat tickets.

Yet, I’m not talking about things or situations we attribute to the phrase, “It was heaven on earth.” Such as food, trips, or any experience we feel was heaven-like.

We are so limited in what we imagine for heaven. It’s much bigger and carries more awe than we realize.

A New Heaven and Earth

But the new heaven and earth will one day replace this fallen world we live in.

Look at how it’s all described in Revelation 21:

“Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes.

There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true’” (Verses 1-5, NIV).

How wonderful this is what we have to look forward to. Still, in the present, there are moments of heaven touching earth and touching our lives.

Moments of Heaven Touching Earth

1) Look around and look up—often. We may never know what God desires to rain down from heaven unless we remain aware, looking for it…looking for Jesus.

2) Engage in our life and in prayer. Who knows what is waiting behind the veil of heaven ready to pour over us until we ask. And ask on a regular basis.

Heavenly Father, oh how I need an outpouring from heaven in this situation, today, this hour, this moment in time. In the name of Jesus. Amen. 

3) Be present in the present. Showing up in our loved one’s lives both physically and emotionally. Showing up at church, at work, in ministry, with our neighbors and friends. We carry a piece of heaven’s real estate, sealed by the Holy Spirit, as a promise of new life.

4) Act as Jesus with skin. That’s a sure-fire way to see glimpses of heaven. Model Christ to our family and friends, to the downcast, wayward—anyone without hope.

A surefire way to see glimpses of heaven on earth. Be Jesus with skin to others. @FridayKaren #Jesus #heaven
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5) Abide in God’s presence. Both worship and God’s Word instill in us the riches of heaven. We are a walking billboard: “The same God who reigns in heaven, lives and reigns in me.

We are a walking billboard: The same God who reigns in heaven, lives and reigns in me. @FridayKaren #heaven
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Bringing Pieces of Heaven to Earth

Want to bring the hope of heaven, Jesus Christ, to this world? Grab ahold of true hope, the anchor for our souls. Living in such a manner that others ask where to find it. And then lead them to the cross and an empty tomb and a risen Savior.

Want to see the mercy of heaven displayed in living color? Access God’s mercies, new every morning and then dispense mercy to others without limitation or hesitation.

Want to encounter the goodness of heaven as we dwell on this earth? Allow the Spirit to lead us, crucifying our flesh. The Spirit grows the fruit of goodness in us, pointing others to a good Father in heaven (See Galatians 5:16-24).

Want heaven’s love-factor brought down to our daily lives? Walk in God’s ways and His love. Refresh our minds with the unconditional love of 1 Corinthians 13. Since we love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Acts of real love for our fellow man is one of the greatest manifestations of heaven on earth.

So, you see, we’re already citizens of heaven.

And we hold front-row-seat tickets to heaven on earth.

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Join @FridayKaren to discover how we are not only citizens of heaven, but we also have access to front-row-seat tickets for heaven on earth. Link up is open! Share your blog. #heaven
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