Decision regrets - Exodus 13-16

 Exodus 16:1-3 (ESV)

They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

There is often regret in decision making when you make the decision for the wrong reason.   In the above passage we read the second time Israel “grumbled” against Moses and Aaron.  The first time was right after they saw the miracle of the Red Sea crossing.  After the crossing the drinking water they came to was bitter.  They saw God heal the water and then bring them to the most wonderful stop to recover from the exodus:

Exodus 15:27 (ESV)

Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

Now they are leaving Elim and, again, they grumbled.   The reason for this grumbling is because of instead of leaving Egypt to follow God, they left Egypt to simply flea oppression.   They did not want to serve God and follow God and live for God, they wanted to quit working for the Egyptians.   It should be noted that the Egyptians, as well, had regrets about letting Israel go:

Exodus 14:5 (ESV)

When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”

They, too, did not let Israel go because they feared God in a sense of awe and wonder.  They simply reacted out of fear.   They woke up the next morning and realized they had no one to fetch their water or make their beds or make their bricks or ....!  They had regret.  

We have decisional regrets when we make decisions to meet our own needs and not to bring glory to God.   He, alone, is the reason we live and breath and have our being.  We will continue to regret decisions when our decisions are made for personal reasons and not for His glory and praise.