Regrets and the Devil:

I love it when I wake up with praise music running through my mind. It feels like a tiny offering to God.

But today, surprisingly, the song that woke me up was James Taylor’s Fire and Rain. (Yes, I’m a child of the 70’s.)

I wondered why the song was on my mind. Then I saw the prompt from FMF was “regret,” and I think I can write something about it.

GO

On this journey, you will experience a lot of missteps, false starts, rabbit-trails and detours.

“I wish I had went this way.”

“I should have stopped here.”

“Why didn’t I go back?”

Okay, let’s just call them what they are, regrets.

This morning I woke up with the lines from the song, Fire and Rain, on my mind:

“Just yesterday morning, they let me know you were gone. Suzanne, the plans they made put an end to you”

And,

 
“but I always thought that I'd see you again”

Basically, those lines are about regrets. James Taylor never did make it back to see Suzanne. Haven’t we been there? Life took us another direction than what we’d planned, and we never did see that person or accomplish that goal we had set.

We can either let regret slow our journey down to a crawl; or we try to make it right, learn from it and then move on.

But what haunts me is the line, “the plans they made put an end to you.”

I looked it up and it's been said Taylor meant “the plans the Fates had made put an end to you.”

I’m here to tell you who “the Fates” were. The enemy, the devil, if you will.

He does not like you. Never has, never will.

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 NLT

But it’s more than dislike. He actively wants to devour you. Destroy you.

[5 minutes is up! I’ve got more to say, though!]

He’s not a mischievous character in a red suit with horns and a pitchfork.

He is much more subtle. He will come dressed up in catastrophe, sure he will … But, he loves even more to wear the clothes of your nearest and dearest.

He can look like everything you ever thought you wanted.

He will act like a travel guide who will help you get to where you think you want to go, but instead he has re-routed you for disaster.

Why does he hate you so much? Because he hates Jesus; therefore, he hates anything Jesus loves, which is you!

So, stay alert!

Don’t lose your focus for even a second.

The best strategy of all to make your journey a success is to keep your eye on Jesus.

He won’t fail you. Never has. Never will.

~~~

Want to read more about regret? Visit the FiveMinuteFriday link-up.

I'm also excited to link this post at Crystal's #FreshMarketFriday! So glad she's back!