Devotionals by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

May I offer some pastoral advice and compassionate counsel?

First, you cannot undo the past; don’t try. I meet folks rather regularly who think that if they travel far enough and long enough the travel will cause them to erase the past. Wasted effort. Not even an around-the-world trip will help you absolve your past. Drugs won’t do it either. Alcohol won’t do it. Finding a marriage partner won’t necessarily remove what has been done in the past. It certainly will soften the blow of it as you walk with God, but you cannot undo what has been done. You cannot unscramble an egg. God alone is your only Source of relief.

Second, you may not be able to cope with the present; don’t quit. Some folks have a whale of a battle on their hands. If you are one of them, I commend you for not quitting. Get help. Go back to the third statement I gave you earlier. Work through the process of finding full forgiveness methodically and carefully. Don’t hold anything back. It might include going to individuals whom you hurt or offended or wronged in some way. It may be that your abortion represents only a part of your problem. Stay at it until you are free. Being unable to cope simply means the process isn’t complete. Don’t quit.

Third and finally, you must not waste the future; don’t hide. I do not believe that God gives anyone breath in his or her lungs for the purpose of just existing. God has a purpose for every one of us. He is well able to remake and reshape your life. I am a firm believer in second chances. If we are going to say with full faith to people who have gone through the horrors of divorce, “there is a future,” then I must say to you who have gone through the sin and humiliation of an abortion, there is a future for you, too! I repeat, God has a purpose. And it is not that you spend your days in hiding.

May He grant you a special measure of grace . . . grace to face the truth, painful though it may be. Grace to accept His forgiveness, unworthy though you may feel. And grace to become one of His choice instruments, impossible though that may seem. God isn’t finished with you yet.

His grace is abundant. Claim it. It is the map that will lead you to the promised land of a full and complete recovery.

Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright 1990 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.

Used with permission. All rights reserved.

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