Session 2

How to prevent regret

From 1 Samuel: A 6-Week Devotional

Have you ever made a decision you regretted? Maybe it was last minute. Maybe it was a split-second decision. Maybe you experienced the consequences of the saying, “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.”

If we don’t determine what our decision is going to be before we get in the moment, then we’re probably going to make a poor choice.

In 1 Samuel 26, David found himself in a compromising situation. He had to decide whether he wanted to follow God and not kill King Saul, or follow what his men were telling him to do and take it upon himself to take the throne.

Decisions made in the moment are usually moments we end up regretting.

This was David’s second opportunity to kill Saul (1 Samuel 24). The circumstances and the people around David would have made killing Saul seem like the obvious choice. But David knew that God commanded otherwise. Before the situation presented itself, David had already determined in his mind what he was going to do.

Maybe you’ve heard the advice that if you don’t stand for something, then you will fall for anything. If we don’t determine what we are going to stand for before situations present themselves, we will likely end up falling under the peer pressure.

The strongest moral decisions are the ones we make before temptation strikes. Decisions made in the moment are usually moments we end up regretting.

If we were in David’s shoes, would we be more likely to respond like David or David’s men? To be able to say, “no” to that level of temptation, like David, we have to commit ahead of time to putting God’s commands first—even if it means going against our friends.

Reflect:

• What is one decision you have made in the moment? Did you determine to follow God or follow the peer pressure? What were the results?
• Have you made up your mind what you are going to stand for? If not, what do you need to do today to determine what you stand for so you can be prepared when temptation comes?