“Hands up! Step away from the truck! You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”
I stumbled out of my uncle’s truck on that chilly February night in 1986 in a drug-induced daze and faced three police officers. Their guns were drawn and pointed at me. An officer patted me down and pulled a handgun from underneath my shirt. I had placed it there right before exiting the vehicle.
It wasn’t the first time I’d been arrested, but it was my first charge that included a concealed weapon. Fear and concern set in when I learned the gun had been used in a murder the day before. I was unaware of the gun’s history when I acquired it.
In jail, coming off my high, I was flooded with feelings of regret, guilt, and shame. I was only 25, and I had already made a mess of my life. My addiction to drugs and alcohol had led to multiple arrests, jail time, a criminal record, and a revoked driver’s license. I was divorced, and my current marriage was on the brink. I was sure I’d never be successful at anything.
I continued to appease my emotions with drugs and alcohol for two more years. I was 27 when I finally discovered the unconditional love of God. His love, Word, and Spirit helped me put the shame and regret behind me so I could start again.
Do you carry regrets? Maybe you regret wasting time or hurting others with your past actions. Do those regrets make you feel like you’ll never be anything more than a failure? I’ve got some good news for you.
God can redeem all your past failures and mistakes if you’ll let Him. He can cause your barren, fruitless life to become a place of blessing. Let’s look at what God had to say in the book of Joel, a book written 800 years before Jesus Christ.
God sent the prophet Joel to His people with a message of repentance. He wanted them to stop sinning and following the ways of the world and to come back to Him instead.
The book begins with Joel describing how sin had led to their land being attacked. Locusts had stripped every vine of their grapes, and all the crops in the fields lay barren (Joel 1:10).
Despite the land’s current condition, however, God promised that if His people would turn their hearts back to Him and change their ways, He would restore what the locusts had eaten and bring many blessings. Not only that, but He would also repay them for the years they had lost to the locusts (Joel 2).
I sat in a jail cell, reading those words and wrestling with regret. I felt like those barren lands. My life had been stripped down to nothing because of my sin. I’d lost many years to the “locusts” of addiction and bad choices. It was time to turn to God in surrender.
How thankful I am for God’s forgiveness and redemptive ways; He didn’t leave me in that pitiful state. The moment I turned to Him and acknowledged my sinful ways, He not only forgave me, but He also restored my life.
It’s been many years since I surrendered my life to God. Today, I’m a minister who has the privilege of helping others find restoration through Jesus Christ. I continue to be amazed at how God takes my past and uses it to help others. That’s how mighty my God is!
Are you ready for your life to be restored and for lost years to be redeemed? It starts with repentance—turning to God and away from sin. You recognize your sinful ways and acknowledge to God that you’ve missed His mark. You ask for His forgiveness and then determine to move forward differently with Him so that you don’t repeat the mistakes that led you to your valley of regret.
When you do that, God will begin a restoration process in your life that only He can do. He will return to you all that you’ve lost—many times over and in the most amazing, unimaginable ways.
Michael Dixon surrendered to God after childhood trauma and addiction nearly destroyed him. Changed by God, Michael became a pastor, author, licensed addiction specialist, and director of his nonprofit, L.I.F.E. (Living in Freedom Everyday) Ministries. His bilingual curriculum, L.I.F.E. Ministries, helps others find wholeness and freedom in Christ Jesus and can be purchased on Amazon. Videos can be viewed by the incarcerated on Edovo and through VL’s platform on Pando.
