I stared at the blinking insertion line trying to figure out how to write this because, to be honest with you, I'm struggling with this myself.
The past. The present. The future.
I'm sure we all are struggling with all, or at the least one, of these.
The past was a point in life where we may have made mistakes, we took wrong turns, we had the glory days, the best is back there, and you can't get it back.
The past is where some of us are still living. We don't like change. We want to stay complacent and keep everything the way it used to be.
But can I give you a reality check? Change is inevitable. You can't stop it. You can't control it. You have to accept the past is the past and there is no changing it or going back to it.
But, there are things in the past that God can and may use in the future! Didn't think of that did you? Maybe you did and forgot like I have.
I've gotten reminded this week how God can take a moment in the past you may have though He would hate you for, or something you wish was buried, hidden, perhaps forgotten, yet He turns it into something you never could imagine.
Joseph was living his new life after dealing with his brothers selling him, getting accused by Potiphar's wife and forgotten by Pharaoh's cup bearer to get him out of prison, and then, all of the sudden, his brother's showed up. His past. The same people who hurt him. He allowed anger to take over and, in a way, he tortured them. He realizes that he can no longer punish them. Joseph may have handled it the wrong way at first, but he knew deep down he still loved them.
God has a way of bringing our past back around but this time it'll honor him and I'm sure, by His gracious hands, it'll bring you peace, joy and restoration.
Look at Paul, at the time, Saul. Saul's past that everyone knew about and pretty much only cared about was him killing Christians! He was known for this! Most of everyone feared his name. Christians hid! But it was on that road to Damascus when Jesus called Him and in an instant his past was left there, his present was his transitioning moment for what the Lord put in him.
In Philippians 1:6, "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." He is working in ways you can't imagine, and He will finish what He started in you.
Ain't God good!
And you know what? Paul also got a taste of what it was like when Stephen was stoned. Look at Acts 14:19. His past circled back around on him. But he got up and continued the work.
I'm in this place right now. A little of being in the present yet holding on to the past and a little of my past circling back around to me. I'm struggling to let go of past hurts, pains and memories. I'm struggling with forgiving some who have hurt me. I'm struggling to let go of my past that I'm sure it's hurting me from moving forward to new things from God. The struggle of holding to my past, I believe, is even hurting others, others who don't have anything to do with my past.
And you know what I do? I run. I try to bury it, and yes, I run. I run hand in hand with my past backwards instead of letting it go and running in my present towards my God-created future.
Have you been here? Are you there now? It's hard, isn't it? But there is good news! We can see brighter days ahead.
God doesn't want us running from our past. God wants us to forget our past. He says in Isaiah 43:18-19, one of my favorite scriptures, to "forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive? I am making a way in the wilderness and the streams in the wasteland."
I've glued myself to this scripture. (Not saying this is the only scripture I love and need). It's a promise I've been holding and still hold on to. This has been a word from God to me that I can't trade in for the past. He is doing something new. A new thing. But I have to do my pat and let the past go.
Don't you want a new thing? Release the past. Sounds easy, well it is. It's through true, wholehearted prayer to the Lord. Ask Him to help you heal from your past so you can move into what new things He has in store for you.
Trust me, I am doing the same thing and you know what? The more I give my past hurts and pains to the Lord Almighty, the more I feel peace and this indescribable weight lifted off of me. I'm telling you, pleading with you, do not hold on to the past any longer. It's only keeping you complacent and downcast. Get up. Pray and be released from it.
In our present, let's do what Paul says in Philippians 3:16. "But we must hold on to the progress we have already made."
You are making progress. You may not see results as soon as you say "God, I'm giving it to you." Changes like this don't happen overnight. You have to put action (faith) in what you pray for. The more you hand it back to God, the more progress you will see!
And for your future look at Philippians 3:13-14 which says, "No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us."
And in Jeremiah 29:11 says, "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."
Forget the past. Look forward. Press on. God has plans. To give you a hope. To give you a future.
Don't stay here. Don't stop here. Know that there is something new, something better, something God created specifically for you. Are you ready to receive it? Then let the past go.
Let's pray.
Dear Heavenly Father,
You are just so good. Thank you for this word you have given us this week. Help us to let go of our past and know you will either cast it as far as the west is from the east or you will use it to glorify you. You alone can do a new thing in my life. I want to receive the new things you have in store for me. Forgive me for holding onto something that is hurting me. Renew my mind. Heal my heart. I give all things to you. Today I am a new creation! The old has passed, the new has come!
Amen.
Thanks for reading peeps!
Check out the shop. Having something new coming to the shop so stay tune! :)
Here's a quote I love!
"Don't bring yesterday's sorrows to today's new mercies."
(Hold on to this! Write it down!)
Songs of the Week: In Your Will by Men of Standard, Keep On by Hillsong Young and Free
Scripture of the Week: "13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. 16 But we must hold on to the progress we have already made."
-Philippians 3:13-14
Peace out!!!
