Put the Past to Rest - Martin Wiles

Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

She ran from her past, but she couldn’t put the past to rest. 

Frances and her sister lived with an abusive father. Their mother died when they were both very young. Their father molested them sexually and drank continuously. Finally, child welfare intervened and placed them with an aunt.

Frances’ restless spirit wouldn’t rest. She joined the hippie movement and all the accompanying activities when she was old enough. She drank to excess, experimented with all types of hallucinogenic drugs, and traveled the country trying to find herself. Occasionally, she showed up to visit her old childhood sweetheart, who still loved her dearly. He wanted to marry her, but she wouldn’t commit. She didn’t know it, but she was still running from her past, trying to make it disappear through unhealthy relationships and habits. 

One day, Frances decided to put her restless spirit to bed. She called up her childhood sweetheart and proposed to him. They married, but there wasn’t any happily ever after—just happy. Drugs and numerous sexual relationships had presented her with a sexually transmitted disease for which there was no cure. She died shortly after taking her vows. 

The apostle Paul gave the formula for putting our pasts to rest. It doesn’t happen through free sex, addictive substances, financial security, or through the hundreds of other ways we might try. We lay our past to rest through a relationship with Christ. Frances’ childhood sweetheart knew that, but he could never convince her until it was too late. 

Knowing Christ through faith doesn’t erase our past, but He gives us a different perspective. The baggage of past mistakes—self-inflicted or not--will always follow us, but it doesn’t have to haunt us. Christ forgives our past, present, and future mistakes and sins immediately when we ask. 

Who we are in Christ presently isn’t who we once were. Others may label us addicts, abusers, gamblers, or criminals. Christ labels us forgiven children. We may remember how terrible our past was, but Christ forgets it and gives us the ability to tell it goodnight. 

If you’re in Christ, put your past to rest so that you can get on with the present and future. 

Father, thank you for forgiving our past and giving us a bright future. 

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Flashback Friday - Looking Back - Martin Wiles

Hindsight can be 20/20.

But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt. Genesis 19:26 NLT

A recent article detailed 37 things dying people said they regretted not doing. Among them were traveling abroad, learning another language, leaving a bad relationship, seeing their favorite musician, overcoming fear, taking care of themselves physically, leaving an unpleasant job, saying “I love you” enough, listening to what their parents told them, ignoring what other thought, releasing grudges, volunteering enough, putting work in a proper perspective, spending enough time with loved ones, and letting go of worry.

Life can be filled with look backs, but there is one type that is spiritually devastating. Lot’s wife experienced it. She and her husband lived in the city of wicked Sodom. When news arrived that God was about to destroy their hometown, they ran for their lives. While on the escape route, however, Lot’s wife looked back longingly at the immorality she was leaving behind. The penalty was death…or in this case salt.

I am a product of my past but don’t have to be its prisoner. One counselor suggests 90 percent of our responses in relationships relate to a former rather than present time. But my past is a good instructor when I allow the wrong turns in it to prompt right turns in the present.

Skeletons haunt my past. When I allow unwise decisions and actions of my past to affect my present and future, I become a prisoner of misplaced focus. God gives many second chances, so my future is as bright as I allow it to be. Lot’s wife relived in her mind the sordid past she was leaving behind. If I long for what God has forgiven, it reveals a lack of full commitment to him.

My future is in God’s hands. He won’t erase my past, but he can use the events from it, combine them with my present experiences, and then use me to help others who are struggling on their spiritual journey. Are you learning from and using your past or letting it ruin your present and future?

Prayer: Merciful God of second chances, we thank You that our pasts don’t have to control our presents or futures.

Don't forget to share how you've learned to look forward rather than backward. 

Tweetable: In which direction are you looking? 

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