When God Regrets

For the full context of this post read Genesis 6:5-8

Regret is an emotion that cuts deep. It takes time to build, but once it is there, regret leaves a nasty mark on us. We regret things that we have done, things that we are ashamed of, and things that we wish we could change. Some of us even regret things that we haven’t done, but wish that we would have done. We regret mistakes and failures. But what happens when God regrets?

“Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the face of the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled” (Genesis 6:6).

The Bible provides an example of the God of the universe displaying emotion, and the emotion that is depicted is one of being deeply troubled with regret over us. As hard as it is to acknowledge that we have caused God regret, we can learn how to process our own regrets from the example God leaves us in processing his regret.

First, God identified what the source of his regret was. God regretted having made human beings. From God’s example, we need to be able to identify the source of our regret. Upon identifying his regret, God created a plan of action. His plan of action was to wipe human beings from the face of the earth. This plan was not good for humans, but it is a clear example of the type of plan we should create for our own regrets. God’s action plan was to eliminate his regret completely. Our plan should be to eliminate regret completely.

Before we eliminate regret completely, we should again take our example from God. God could have quickly wiped the human race from the face of the earth. But God is just. Before eliminating all of the human race, God examined the hearts of every person. God saw that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart were evil all of the time. But there was one person who found favor in the eyes of God. Noah was faithful to God. God did not regret having made Noah, so God spared Noah and his entire family. Sifting through our regrets to search for something good takes time. It takes reflection and introspection. It can be painful and may even be harder than eliminating a broader scope. Just as God took time to search for the good, we need to process our regrets carefully so as not to eliminate the good with the bad.

God’s goal was to eliminate violence, corruption, evilness, and wickness from the human race. He took a risk to start fresh with the good that he had spared. When we eliminate our regrets we need to be courageous enough to take the risk of starting fresh with the little good that we have left. God took a second chance on the human race. There may be things in our lives that we regret, but we need to be willing to take second chances. We cannot allow the regrets of our past to dictate the direction of our future.

God identified his regret. He made a plan to eliminate it. He spared the good and he took a risk to start fresh. God also made a promise not to destroy all living creatures by flood again. He made this promise knowing that the inclination of the human heart is evil and that even though he had spared the righteous, there was a risk that the world would again become full of violence, corruption, evilness, and wickedness. But God is love so he created another plan to take the place of future regret. That plan is Jesus. God serves as a model for how we should process our regret. 1) identify it, 2) create a plan to eliminate it, 3) spare what is good, 4) take a risk to start fresh, and 5) when we regret again, continue to regret, or can’t shake the regret, bring it to Jesus. He alone can fully eliminate regret from our lives.