NO LOOKING BACK!
NO LOOKING BACK
The apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:13-14 “…this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14) I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
We are not to look behind us. Many people often look back over their shoulder, reviewing past mistakes with feelings of guilt, condemnation, and regret. This was something I struggled with for many years. Over and over I would ask myself the question: should I sift through the piles of rubble from my past and try to make amends and restitution in every instance that I can remember where I have wronged someone? Should I?
I did address some things from my past but then realized that every time I “set something straight” additional memories of past mistakes would make themselves known and embed like splinters into my thoughts. I began to feel overwhelmed. For a time I lived a life stuck in my past. I say “lived a life” but it wasn’t really living at all. Being consumed with trying to perfect my past was hindering me from being able to fully live in the now and also hindering me from being able to reach forward and act on what God was calling me to do—fulfilling His purpose for my life.
I asked God to give me an answer concerning the question of amending my past. He answered me. The first answer God gave me was that my question is actually twofold:
1) In the spiritual realm what happens to my mistakes when I get saved?
2) In the earthly realm what becomes of my mistakes when I get saved?
In the spiritual realm my mistakes are washed in the blood of the Lamb and are gone. Gone! The penalty for my sins, which I have truly repented of, has been paid by Jesus Christ Himself for me. Yay!
In the earthly realm there may be things that need to be dealt with, but rather than getting obsessed with looking backward and rummaging through piles of rubble in my past, I need to give everything to God. If there is anything that I need to address then He will bring it into my present. I am not to look back. I should never look back.
God showed me a vision of me running the course that Apostle Paul speaks of in 2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith…”
In the vision God gave me, I saw myself running but yet I was looking behind me. How well do you think that went? It wasn’t long before I was off the course and in the shrubbery alongside the trail with my face in the dirt. God showed me that I need to completely give Him my past and focus on what He has set before me, now, to accomplish. He told me that if there is anything from my past that I need to deal with then He will bring it to my present and walk me through it, whatever it is. But yet again, even though it is something from my past I never have to look back because He will have brought it into my present. And it may be that He never brings anything from my past to my present. But irregardless of whether He does or doesn’t I don’t have to worry about it. If there is something to be dealt with then He will not just bring the specific situation but also the specific answer.
This also applies to when I am making a decision. There are times that the right or correct choice is not clear to me and it seems that, for whatever reason, God is being silent or somehow I just am missing what He is saying to me. In situations like that, I make the best decision I can and trust God to make any necessary adjustments. If I have errored in my decision then He will provide another chance for me to get it right.
To reiterate, if you have made a mistake, years ago, yesterday, or maybe even merely an hour ago, don’t look back! If something needs a redo, God will put it in front of you!
No looking back!
