Don't Look Back

When you think of a new start, what comes to mind? Be honest with yourself, most of us tend to think that a new start means that life became too difficult to bear, and, upon hitting rock bottom, you decided to shake everything off and try again with no strings attached. Hitting rock bottom, for many of us, can mean the same thing, and at the same time be completely different. Maybe you’re rock bottom means you have failed countless times and feel like it sums up your life, attaching themselves to you and dragging you down. Maybe you just broke up with your girlfriend or boyfriend, and you blame yourself, telling your heart that you messed up what you thought was the perfect relationship and feel like you will never feel loved again. Maybe you are bored of your job and it’s not fulfilling anymore; maybe your house no longer suits your needs, or your friends and family have turned against you because of something that has happened. A new start sounds exciting when we find ourselves stuck in the pits of life, but do you know what Jesus did on the cross over two thousand years ago? Did you know that His heroic act allows you to have a new start even now? However, many Christians forget this truth and the enemy of our souls knows that if he can keep our vision looking back on our past, we make little progress in the future God has for us. All of us have a past, and for some, it may be filled with times of joys and happiness, for others it may be horrible, full of dark days. No matter what the past looks like, the enemy is a master in causing us to stay looking into the past and what was. We serve a God that loves to plan ahead for his children, and scripture tells us that his plans are always good in the end. “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 We need to stop looking back on the negatives in our lives. When you look back on life, you need to remember that your memory is not the enemy and try looking at moments with the intent of seeing what God did and what he has brought you through. The way we use our memory, and the attitude we have towards them, will ultimately determine the way we look at our past and our future. Understand, that a new start is available to you no matter where you've been or what you have done. Jesus died on the cross to save you and to give you a brand new start, He specializes in new beginnings, and wants you to look at every disappointment, hurt and pain as an opportunity to learn something new. When we spend our time looking at the past and the negativity, we lock God out and stop trusting his path and plan for our lives. There’s a saying I heard that says you should write the bad things that happen to you in the sand, so that when the waves rise, they can be easily erased from your memory. Then we should carve the good into the stone so they will last forever. However, most of us engrave the bad things that happen to us in the stone and our good in the sand; therefore, our painful memories remain immortalized in our minds and the good wash away. We go about our daily lives with our failures, our mistakes, our disappointments, and our hurts from the past shackled around our ankles, weighing us down, making walking around very difficult. In order to fully and whole heartily live in the present, and let God plan our future, we need to learn our lessons from the painful memories and failures of the past, and then let those memories go. Release the past, stand firmly in the present, and prepare to step confidently into the future. My challenge for you today is to write all the failures and bad memories in your life down on a piece of paper. This may take more than one paper but it will be worth it. Once you’ve written all you remember, take that paper and burn it. Don’t shred it, don’t cut it up, burn it. Watch as all those memories disappear and let them go. Move on. “Holy Spirit, help me from today to live my life with a view of what is ahead; help me to stop looking back!” “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)” Ephesians 2:1-5 “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 “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.” Philippians 3:13-14