Regrets

Posted on April 16th, 2026 by Redeemed

The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. Genesis 6:6 (NIV)

The word regret is something no one wants to use because it carries with it a weight that is difficult to relate with, and painful to bear.

But this was the very word Scriptures used to describe how God felt on two very important but regrettable occasions when He was about to bring a sorry situations to an end.

Scriptures tells us man was created in God's image and likeness, and its not out of place to say God feels too - this we may not fully understand.

The opening Scriptures described how God felt when He saw that the heart of man was continuously evil, and all their imagination was wickedness always.

Mankind reached a point were all they thought of was evil all the time.

God's creation which He said was very good has allowed themselves to be something else, something He could not bear to see.

It grieved Him at heart that they were incapable of changing for good and He realised their actions left him no choice but to bring them to judgement.

And so He decided to start all over again with just one man and his family, who were the remnants.

God always have some remnants, they may not be many, but there always is and will be a remnant.

Another place in Scriptures were God used the word regret was in the book of first Samuel

“I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My instructions.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all that night.

- 1 Samuel 15:11 BSB

This was another heart rendering account of God expressing regret over someone's action.

Saul was the first king of Isreal. He was doing well until he stopped listening to God and instead started paying more attention to what people had to say.

God sent Him out with very clear instructions, but while on the mission, some people thought to suggest to him what should be done with the spoil.

For fear of being label too stiff or whatever name he thought might be given him, made him decides to cave in to their demands by so doing disobeying the clear commands of the Lord.

That singular act made it clear, he was ready to disobey God in order to please the people; something that eventually cost him the throne.

Scriptures tells us the throne is established by God, but it's possible he understood otherwise.

At a glance, one would think king Saul wasn't clear about God's instruction to completely destroy everything, (1 Samuel15:18); since he protested that he had completely wiped them out (1 Samuel 15 :20-21).

But Samuel challenged his understanding of obedience by asking him where the sound of bleating of Sheep was coming from?

Low and behold the truth came tumbling out...

Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them.

Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord.” 1 Samuel 15 24:25

God's Words is supreme. No matter the circumstances, it will stand.

Many times, people engage in activities they know fully well they should not be involved in, but because of whatever, they continue anyway, only to regret at the end.

The human conscience is powerful, able to seize a situation and warn us. Most time, we are bothered and refuse to pause and think about what our conscience is prompting us about.

The point of regret is that point when one come to the full understanding that all hope is lost concerning a situation, a relationship, a thing etc.

It is that moment when you know nothing can be done again, and for God, He grieved for man, for what was to follow; for the rain came and took them all away, except for the remnants, kept safe in the Ark commanded by God to be built.

May we not come to the point were we regret what could have been, how we missed it, if only we had known or had listened etc. Such are words of regrets and may that be far from us.

God bless as we critically look at our actions, who knows, it may be the last one, to do the right thing.