CARPE POTESTATUM!
“Make the most of every opportunity…”
Ephesians 5:16
In his book, If Only, Dr. Neal Roese makes a fascinating distinction between two types of regret: regrets of action and regrets of inaction.
A regret of action is “wishing you hadn’t done something.” In theological terms, it’s called a sin of commission.
By way of contrast, a regret of inaction is “wishing you had done something.” In theological terms, it’s known as a sin of omission.
I have my fair share of action regrets. For example, I regret so much of how I lived while in college before coming to know Christ. There are so many people I hurt and so many situations in which I compromised.
Jesus has certainly changed my life over the past 40 years. However, I still have my fair share of regrets. I can look back at words I said and the actions I took that cause me to shake my head. “Why in the world did I do that?!?!”
My guess is that you can relate to this. All of us have said things and done things which we’re so sorry for. We wish we could hit the rewind button and take back our words or undo our actions. All of us have action regrets.
Inaction Regrets
But could it be that our inaction regrets might carry even more weight? That we will end our lives mourning all that we didn’t try…what we didn’t attempt? That we will shake our heads and lament, “Why in the world didn’t I dare to do that?!?!
That theory of regretting the lack of the positive more than the fact of the negative is backed up by the research of two Cornell University social psychologists, Tom Gilovich and Vicki Medvec. Gilovich and Medvec discovered that over the long haul we tend to regret inactions more than actions. Indeed, as people look back over their lives, inaction regrets outnumber action regrets 84% to 16%.
I found their conclusion stunning. In the long haul, we won’t regret the mistakes we made as much as the opportunities we missed.
The steps we didn’t take. The conversations we didn’t have. The risks we didn’t attempt.
In the long haul, we won’t regret the mistakes we made as much as the opportunities we missed.
Seize the Opportunity
Ready for some good news? Every day is filled with countless God-ordained, God-approved opportunities. Not a day goes by that we don’t have an opportunity to love, an opportunity to serve, an opportunity to live.
Scripture tells us to look for these occasions and then to “Make the most of every opportunity.” (Ephesians 5:16) Seeing and seizing opportunities, especially the risky ones, is an overlooked and underappreciated dimension of spiritual maturity.
Yet it is these opportunities which allow for God to move in powerful ways. It’s these opportunities which provide Kingdom-advancing potential.
Many of us are familiar with Latin term, carpe diem, which means “seize the day.” That’s a great thought, but perhaps it’s a bit vague.
What if we would live by something more tangible, such as - carpe potestatem - which means “seize the opportunity”? That is to say, “Make the phone call…Offer to pray…Give the money…Volunteer to help...Share the Good News.”
Every day is filled with countless God-ordained, God-approved opportunities. Which ones are before you right now?
Every day is filled with countless God-ordained, God-approved opportunities. Which ones are before you right now?
Carpe potestatem! Seize the opportunity! Who knows? It might just result in an important step forward in your maturity and open up a whole new set of wonderful memories.
Prayer:
Lord, help me to see the opportunities You have placed before me and to seize them!Help me to overcome the doubt and fear that so often hold me back.At the end of the day, may my life, my choices, bring honor and glory to You and spread the good news of your Kingdom.
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