Lost for words…

There have been several times when I’ve been at a loss for words – I’ve opened a blank Word document and begun writing, and at some point later, discovered that all my words have been lost. Sometimes this is my own fault – I’ve forgotten to ‘save’, while other times it’s a fault lying in the computer.
My response has varied from ‘it’s a crying shame’ through to ‘if at first you don’t succeed…’

It reminds me of choices, and the tracks we take.

At times I make wrong choices, some of which are my own fault, while others result from ignorance. My errors are echoed in the words of an Anglican prayer of confession, in the line:

God, we have sinned… through ignorance, through weakness, through our own deliberate fault

So, what do we then do?
Do we keep looking back to the past, with guilt or regret?
Do we try to re-write what cannot be re-written?
Or do we ask, as the prayer continues:

forgive us all that is past, and lead us out of darkness to walk [in] light

Truth is, I sometimes struggle with taking a fresh start and walking in the light. The darkness of regret pulls me back and weighs me down, and I struggle to believe I am forgiven by God.
Negative self-talk keeps us in the dark, but choosing to learn from the past and to put right what we can, leads us into the light.

So, the choice is ours – to remain paralysed as miserable sinners, or move forward, forgiven and freed by God.
My head tells my heart to believe in God’s compassion, and so I’m going to choose the latter.
The fresh start that God offers, leaves me lost for words!

Truth is… Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come  2 Corinthians 5:17