Early in your senior year I started an Axis service with these words “Has it ever occurred to you that nothing has ever occurred to God?
Some of you have now discovered and some of you have already determined that God’s plan for your life trumps your plan – but many of you tonight, even some moms and dads are still trying to determine God’s plan for you life.
The fact is that life is filled with challenges, risks, failures and celebrations. I fear for too many students that have lived in Christian homes, gone to Christian churches and attended Christian schools that we short change and miss the richest plans God has for us by taking the safest route to adulthood. Too many Christians today live in fear of failure; well failure is a classroom that God has advanced education planned – just for you.
I urge you to not believe the lies of the crowd, of the critical, of the cynical, but believe in the God who says that you can do anything in Christ who strengthens you.
Do not fear failure, it is an important part of God’s extraordinary plan for your life.
Here are a few people that experienced failure:
Dismissed form Drama School with a note that said wasting her time: Lucille Ball
Turned down by the Decca recording Co because we don’t like their sound: The Beatles
A failed soldier, farmer and real estate agent: Ulysses S Grant
Cut from his high school basketball team, he went home and cried in his locked room: Michael Jordan
Told by a teacher that he was too stupid to learn anything: Thomas Edison
Fired by a newspaper because he lacked imagination: Walt Disney
Failed in 8 elections, had a nervous breakdown: Abraham Lincoln
Barry Levinson, a famous Hollywood director, took a chance many of his colleagues passed up. They thought the script about an autistic middle-aged man and his younger brother was too much of a drag for sophisticated American audiences. Levinson saw potential, though. He liked the interaction between the brothers. With the able assistance of actors Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, Levinson crafted a beautiful tale of humor and drama. Hoffman’s classic depiction of Raymond Babbitt won him an Academy Award. The film Rain Man went on to gross over five hundred million dollars. Talk about regrets! I’m sure there was a handful of directors and producers who wish they had that script back.
Years ago, MGM executive Irving Thalberg told Louis B. Mayer, “No Civil War picture ever made a nickel.” One “Gone With the Wind later proved him wrong.
John Greenleaf whittler, one of our most astute poets, wrote: “For of all the sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: ‘It might have been.’” If you’ve never failed, you’ve never lived!
That’s what regret is all about. The world is full of people who regret having thoughtlessly chosen (decided wrongly) the wrong path. Life is a series of forks in the road; it is a series of decisions, some more important than others, of course. But the choices are up to us. And the consequences of those choices belong to us also.
Like it or not you are faced with decisions everyday. They come in all shapes and sizes:
*How do you want your eggs?
*Should I wear a jacket today?
*What do I want out of life?
*Do I drink socially or not?
*What classes do I need?
*What church will I attend?
*Who should I vote for?
*Should I get married?
*Do we want Children?
*Do I want ice cream?
*Vanilla or chocolate?
*Where should I live?
*Will my professors take my phone away like they did at PCA?
So many decisions, we sometimes feel like we are on a merry-go-round. Our head is spinning with decisions. Now that you have reached a milestone by graduating you have even more decisions to make.
For you that are graduating from high school your decisions become very important. You now enter into a new realm; your parents won’t be making most of your decisions now.
What you need to be concerned about is to be careful about your decisions so that you won’t have a life full of regrets. You don’t want a life of unhappiness because of the decisions you have or haven’t made.
Let me hasten on to say that I don’t know one person who hasn’t made at least one blunder that resulted in personal regret. Each of us can look back on an event we’d like to do over. That is just a part of being human.
Even Bible heroes made some bad decisions that resulted in regret. The apostle Paul had painful memories of watching Stephen crumple beneath the vicious stoning that took his life.
It was Paul—as Saul the persecutor—who had held the killers’ coats. Though he was later a magnificent servant of Jesus Christ, he often recalled his former days as a tormentor of Christians.
Sarah who laughed at God’s promises.
Elijah who defeated the prophets of Baal and then decided to run from Jezebel. Then there is King David, who committed adultery with Bathsheba, that was a bad decision and then he made another one when he had her husband killed.
Remember Lot who wasted precious years living in Sodom. And what about Peter, who denied the Savior at the hour of his crucifixion.
The line of regretters goes back to Adam, who disobeyed the one simple command God gave him.
There’s no pain so intense as feeling God’s disappointment and of wishing you could turn back the clock. Here are some truths that will help you in making decisions and in having fewer regrets:
Seek God’s Will. Proverbs 3:5,6 – “(5) Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding: (6) In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Solomon said, “Acknowledge the Lord.” That doesn’t mean give him an afterthought. Nor does it mean pretend to ask his opinion. “With all your heart” ought to give you a keen insight into Solomon’s instructions.
The greatest resource available to those in the valley of decision is the God. But your view of God determines that value.
Decisions need prayer. Sounds old-fashioned doesn’t it? It’s still the way we communicate with God. Matthew 7:7 – “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Jesus was saying, “If you need directions through life, ask me, I know the way.”
All of my worst choices have one commonality: lack of prayer! Our most regrettable decisions usually are from disobedience. You will never regret taking time to pray before you decide.
Decisions need the counsel of God’s Word. Psalm 37:23 – “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way.”
If you have any doubt about the decision you are about you make see what God’s Word has to say, but check it out first not after the decision.
Psalm 119:11 – “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”
Psalm 119:105 – “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
Decisions Need The Counsel Of Wise, Godly People. Listen to the counsel of godly friends. In Exodus 18:19 Moses listened to the wise counsel of his father-in-law and it helped him bear the load he was under. Seniors, if Moses needed help – you do too!
Proverbs 1:5 – “A wise man {woman} will hear and increase learning. And a man {woman} of understanding will attain wise counsel.”
Proverbs 12:15 – “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise.”
Decisions Don’t Need to Seek Feelings. Tranquil and calm today, tossed and driven tomorrow, feelings are as unsteady as the sea. The world is run by people “who don’t feel like it”; and pain is brought to many “who felt like they were doing the right thing.
When Jesus prayed in the garden, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39). “Not as I will” waves goodbye to feelings.
Before A Decision Is Made, Check The Door. Paul wanted to go certain places to preach, but the doors closed. Then, a door opened to go to Macedonia. Warning: picking locks or kicking down doors is not God’s will. If the decision is open and free, enter with peace. If it is closed and uncertain, turn away with peace.
Wise Decision Making Has Learned To Wait On The Lord. Like children we are prone to run wildly ahead of our Father. He calls out to us as we run merrily through the lights of life’s carnivals, “Wait!” Isaiah pours new energy into the exhausted hearts of hasty people run dry from sprinting through life’s corridors without pit stops.
“But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
Wrong paths can be changed. It’s not as easy as snapping your fingers and Poof! All is well, but praise God for second chances. When the prodigal grew homesick, he knew the way back, though the trip was long and the hills high. Many miles rolled beneath his feet before he felt his father’s kiss.
Paul said that it was wrong for Christians to sin just to see grace abound (Romans 6:1). And yet, because grace does abound, we can repent, receive forgiveness, and make a fresh start. Be careful, however, not to develop the attitude that it’s easy to file for spiritual bankruptcy and start over. If you do too much of that, you won’t have much to show for your life—and bad habits are mighty tough to break.
"One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, worry, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"
The old Cherokee Grandfather simply replied, "The one you feed."
Far too often, we are not aware of the consequences of our inner battle until it is too late and hurt or disappointment has occurred.
The good news is that God loves to hear our plea for forgiveness and longs to forgive. He also desires us to learn from those battles and grow beyond them. I have tried to live by the statement, "if you surrender your willingness to learn, you've surrendered your right to lead".
At times, I accomplish that desire, other times I really suffer under the weight of too much pride or ego to learn appropriately.
So that leaves us with two questions:
1. What is it you and I need to learn today?
2. Who do you need to forgive, so they can learn today?
3. Which Wolf are you feeding?
Class of 2009, go ahead and turn the world right side up
Go ahead and change the world
Go ahead and clean up the mess that my generation has left you
Go ahead, choose the best that God offers you by following His extraordinary plan for your spectacular life.
Never look back with the wish I would’ves – press on to accomplish ALL that God has called you to - and by all means, enjoy the journey.
Yesterday was a hectic day. I started the day with 185 high school students in Shamu Stadium at Sea World. I am part of the teaching team of Student Leadership University. Every Tuesday, for 8 straight weeks we are at Shamu Stadium for a session on building trusting relationships at 7:00am. 
