Godly sorrow?

2 Corinthians 7:10
10Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

This morning through my quite time I have come across this verse in Corinthians. It has spoken volumes to my heart today. But, I cannot help but dwell on, “what is Godly sorrow?”. So, after looking up several different versions of this verse I fell in love with this one it’s from the message:

“Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets.”

Distress that drive us to God………could be a tragedy, a bad situation, financial trouble, marriage problems….I could go on and on. There are all many situations that we face that stress us out, cause us to stumble, can cause us to have many regrets in life. I don’t like to have regrets in life. I like to think things through a great deal before I make a move, even play all the scenarios out in my mind. (hard to do with three LOUD children running around!!) But, even still, I say and do things that I end up regretting later on. Don’t we all?? hmmm….. But, I guess what this is saying, this Goldy sorrow, is what do you do with that pit feeling in your stomach that you know it is the Holy Spirit? Do you justify yourself for everything, every situation……making lot’s of excuses for the way you are? Or do you turn to complete repentance and plow through the repentance to dwell at the feet of Christ?

Do I allow Christ to work through every situation or just the ones that look good on the surface? Do I want to be on my deathbed and know that I have regrets still??? Our sorrows that we hold in our hearts have a great effect on our lives…whether we recognize it or not. I love that song Undo….I can’t think of who sings it right now. But, the words say something like this, “turn me around, pick me up undo what I’ve become, bring me back to the place of forgiveness and grace”. But, that can only come this “godly sorrow”. So, even though we should not ever dwell in our sorrows, we should definitely deal with them……because the closer we run to the cross, the better off we are going to be. We have a choice through each and ever circumstance we face, do we run to Christ or do we fill up with lot’s of regrets and sadness in our lives?

I have mentioned before that after my second child was born…..well actually while I was pregnant with my second child, I battled a huge spell of depression. Life just seemed tragic. My husband was very sick, my daughter had to have major surgery, our fiances were in ruin……we were about to lose everything we had (and we did), and life was just a mess. I could very well justify and I’m sure people understood the need for my sorrow. I was just sad………deep in my heart, I could find no joy. But, I will never forget, one day I was praying and God spoke to me like He never had before. He told me to sell everything we had and start over. Then, I was even more devastated…….Like, Lord, why aren’t you going to step down and do something big here???

Well, I realize NOW, that I had to go through all that we went through to know what true joy was finally. It was not in a house or “things” it was only in Him. He took it all away……..and I mean it all!!! But, the blessing that was on the other side of it all…….was more than I could ever have imagined. Sure there’s been a lot of bumps and I mean A LOT of bumps in this road. But that sorrow that I felt, it got turned around and it made me who I am today. It made me realize that I have to depend on Christ for EVERYTHING. Even at the grocery store….I ask God to lead me to HIS will for our groceries this week. We are not rich or well off by any means…..but we’ve learned to budget, save and spend wisely. Sure I get caught up with shopping at times and I get carried away……but I can assure you there is always a “deep sorrow” when I know I’m in disobedience! It’s why I REFUSE to take out a credit card to buy ONE THING for this new/old house.

To overcome “worldly sorrow” and for me that was a deep depression………I had to make my sorrows into “godly ones”. I had to know that everything I faced was for a reason and a purpose greater than mine. I had to turn my prayers around from “Lord help me, Lord rescue me” to “Lord I know that I am going through this for a reason and I am completely dependent upon you.” Our sorrows will fade away but in the end…….will we be filled with many regrets or complete peace knowing that we trusted in Christ? I don’t know about you………but I want peace.

(switch gears) Ok, awesome news!! The floors are done as of today!! The final coat of poly went on this morning and now they just have to dry!! WOW GOD IS GOOD!!! The cabinets are DONE!! WHOO HOOO!! Kris and I went over late last night to put all the hardware on and hang all those cabinets back up!! Kitchen table……DONE!!! WOW!! I’m excited, yes there are still a MILLION things to do but, we are making progress!! Our plan is to finish getting the rest of the house painted and then start moving stuff in slowly. We will do our big move in the following Saturday…..I don’t want Kennedy roaming around getting into all kinds of electrical boxes and wires…..scary!! =) The next big thing to be done are the Kitchen counter tops……and I must say…..they are a deal!! Well…….the cheap ones are anyways!! But they “look” real!! =) hee hee!! Ok, but I need some help……..I am about to rack my brain out over colors for this kitchen. We had the cabinets done in a cottage white. The counter tops are going to be a dark coffee kinda color but more black coffee than brown coffee (oh if that makes sense!) Well, since my theme is “french country cottage”, and the space is really small I want to do something that will really brighten it up! So…..being the brave soul I am….=) ha!! I’m thinking about red for the walls!! What do ya’ll think?? I think the cabinets have brightened it up tremendously and I found these great red and white Toile curtains on ebay for a steal……so I I need to go with something that will match those. Please let me know what you think!!

Well, I’m off tomorrow for the prayer retreat, I’m very excited, anxious to get away. Pray for Kris, he has never and I mean NEVER been with these children for more than a few hours…..should be interesting!! =) At least we are still at my parents house so hopefully my mom can make sure they’ve at least had something besides french fries and ice cream to eat!! =) jk!! So, I guess I’ll see you all on Monday! Love to you all!! Have a blessed day!!