Don’t live in the past

(Previously posted)

It is never wise to live in the past. There are, indeed, some uses of our past
which are helpful, which bring blessings. We should remember our past
lost condition to keep us humble and faithful. We should remember past
mercies, that we may have confidence in new needs or trials in the future.
We should remember past comforts, that there may be stars in our sky
when night comes again. But while there are these true uses of memory,
we should guard against living in the past. We should draw our life’s in-
spirations not from memory, but from hope; not from what is gone, but
from what is yet to come. Forgetting the things which are behind, we should
reach forward unto those things which are before. – J. R. Miller-

A while back I was talking to someone about the things that have happened in my past and they were just astounded that I was even functioning. They made the comment that things that have happened to me would cause most people to curl up in a corner and check out of reality. However, I am not going to sit here and say that thought did not occur to me. I have gone through severe depression and suicide attempts because I felt like I could not handle anything else. Enough was enough, and I just could not process anything else. I went to bed and refused to get up. I gained a lot of weight, to the point where I had to get my children and grandchildren to roll me out of bed just to get up. Then one day, when I was laying there, I had determined, I was tired of this. I got my son to roll me out of bed, and I got a shower, put on makeup and started living.

I call on Jesus every day to help me to continue and do what He has called me to do. We should remember the past to keep us humble and faithful. We should remember the things that God has brought us through so we can remember that He is faithful to bring us through whatever is in front of us. We should remember what makes us happy and take comfort in those things. But we should always remember that God, our Heavenly Father is right there with us, in the past, present and future.

As James Russell Miller quotes, ” We should draw our life’s inspirations not from memory, but from hope; not from what is gone, but from what is yet to come. Forgetting the things which are behind, we should reach forward unto those things which are before.”

Philippians 3:13-15

Philippians 3:13-15 (ESV) “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, (14) I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  (15)  Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.”