1 Cor. 7:8 – 8Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while—
I have felt like Paul describes here, that in spite of my efforts, I have failed in making a difference in someone’s life. That I was incapable of saying the right things, and I was wrong in how I handled something. Then the doubt creeps in that you cannot ever make a difference in a life, and that you are just deceiving yourself in thinking you can. And that all your efforts are in vain. I have felt the regret that I handled something wrong, or that I should have done differently even though I was trying to honor God and do the right thing.
I Corinthians 7:9 – 9yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us.
Thank God that He works behind the scenes in ways that we cannot. It is may be true that we cannot change a person’s heart for the better, but God can, and He wants to use us to be the catalyst for that. What He needs are people of courage, willing to deny themselves for the good of others and to be put in harms way in order to win souls to Christ. And there have also been times where there was nothing more I could do, and then God stepped in and brought about a significant change. Thank God for His work in our lives.