New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional

by Paul David Tripp

He sat before me with his head in his hands and kept saying over and over again: “I just wish I could have it all back. I just wish I could press a button and do it all over again. I wish I knew then what I know now. I wish I could try again, but I can’t.” He must have said this or something similar to this ten times. He was incredibly distraught and regretful, and yet in the best spiritual condition he had ever been in. I really did feel his pain and I was very happy that he felt it too, because I knew that what he was experiencing was the pain of grace. He was a hard, driven, and demanding man who kept moving forward no matter what and never looked back. He didn’t care what trail of destruction he left behind him. He was successful. He knew it and wanted everyone else to know it too. He had loved his work more than his family, and in the process, he had lost both. It was all gone—family, job, and wealth. He had played the game by himself and for himself, and had lost in a big way. But now his eyes were open, and the scene broke his heart. Bankrupt and alone, he looked back with grief at every arrogant moment. It was painful, but it was grace. God was making his eyes see so that he would never go back there again. It’s a grace to regret. Grace allows you to face your sin, to own it and not shift the blame. But it is also grace that forgives what has been exposed. Grace forces you to feel the pain of your regrets, but never asks you to pay for them, because the price has a...