Our experiences of loss and disappointment may leave us feeling angry, guilty, and confused. Whether our choices have closed some doors that will never reopen or, through no fault of our own, tragedy has invaded our lives, the result is often what Oswald Chambers called “the unfathomable sadness of ‘the might have been.’ ” We may try to suppress the painful memory, but discover we can’t.

失落和失望的经历常常会使我们感到愤怒、内疚或困惑。有时候，我们的选择使自己永远失去一些机会，或者不是我们的错，但是悲剧还是临到我们身上。结果我们就像章伯斯所说那样，深陷在悔恨当中，巴不得有不同的结果。我们可能试着压抑痛苦的回忆，但却发现我们根本办不到。

Chambers reminds us that the Lord is still active in our lives. “Never be afraid when God brings back the past,” he said. “Let memory have its way. It is a minister of God with its rebuke and chastisement and sorrow. God will turn the ‘might have been’ into a wonderful [place of growth] for the future.”

章伯斯提醒我们，上帝还在塑造我们的生命。他说：“当上帝让我们想起过往时，不要怕，也不要压抑这些痛苦的回忆，这些斥责、惩罚和悲伤都可以为上帝所用。上帝能将我们的悔恨，转化为未来成长的力量。”

In Old Testament days when God sent the people of Israel into exile in Babylon, He told them to serve Him in that foreign land and grow in faith until He brought them back to their home. “ ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’ ” (Jer. 29:11).

在旧约时代，当上帝允许以色列百姓被掳到巴比伦时，上帝告诉他们，虽身在外邦但仍要事奉、信靠祂，直到祂将他们领回故土。耶和华说：“我知道我向你们所怀的意念，是赐平安的意念，不是降灾祸的意念，要叫你们末后有指望。”（耶利米书29章11节）

God urged them not to ignore or be trapped by events of the past but instead to focus on Him and look ahead. The Lord’s forgiveness can transform the memory of our sorrow into confidence in His everlasting love.

上帝吩咐他们不可轻忽过去的经历，但也不要被过往所捆绑，乃要往前看，定睛仰望祂。上帝的赦免能够将我们对过去的悔恨转为坚定的信心，相信祂永恒的慈爱。

Father, thank You for Your plans for us, and for the future that awaits us in Your love.

亲爱的天父，谢谢祢为我们制定了计划，
也感谢祢以慈爱掌管我们的未来。