A New Name

If only…

I’d asked for help earlier

I’d been mentored when I was young

I’d never got in that car

I’d told them what was going on

I’d kept my mouth shut

I was smarter/better-looking/funnier/happier/nicer

I’d had an older brother/a younger sister/different parents/been an only child

I’d become a Christian sooner/later

I’d got married/stayed single/married someone else

I’d saved my money/breath/diary

I’d worked harder/less

I’d used protection

My parents had used protection

I could find a church/home group/university/work place/playgroup where I could fit

I’d listened to my mum/teachers/friends/heart/head/doctor/biological clock

I’d told X how I felt

Stop. And listen:

Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. Isaiah 1:18.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.   John 3:16-17

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:1-11

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. Joel 2:25

Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:18-19