[CrimsonTide4]

YOUR PAST IS NOT YOUR FUTURE
By Lisa Bevere

The apostle Paul had a great plan for fulfilling his destiny. In his letter to the Philippians, he outlined it. He wrote: "One thing I do: FORGETTING what is BEHIND and STRAINING toward what is AHEAD, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13-14, NIV).

Paul knew what many of us need to learn -- that when we stretch back and try to make sense of all that has happened in the past, we are bound to be frustrated. Constantly replaying, reviewing and rewinding, we build different scenarios of what might have been. It's like trying to walk forward while looking backward.

We think, "If only I had done this or that, things would have been different." Yes, it is true; things would have been different. But you didn't do it differently, and thinking about it now can't change it then. Your past, no matter how tragic or terrible, is gone. You can never reach back into it and change it.

Even the wonderful parts of your past are gone. Don't try to live in them and allow them to drain your life in the present. It will only waste your time and energy.

God never goes back, although He is the only one who can. He goes forward. He is always looking ahead and moving beyond the present. He tells us, "'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 it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland'" (Is. 43:18-19).

God enjoys turning our wastelands into fertile plains. He has a plan for irrigating our arid land.

Those who look back say, "Tomorrow will be like today, because today was like yesterday." This is not how God views things. He never measures what WILL be by what HAS BEEN. He knows an important truth -- that your past is not your future.

In fact, He says in His Word that He has "'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'" (Jer. 29:11). He does not outline the plans for you or promise that you will know them. He only assures you that He knows the plans and they are good.

Dare to believe when you cannot see or understand. Decide to trust God for the future instead of wondering about it or assuming it will be bad. Knowledge does not require faith; not knowing does. God challenges us simply to trust Him and His Word.

My husband, John, always shares this truth: "Only one person can get you out of the will of God -- you!" No man, woman, minister, ministry, parent, spouse or friend can do it. Only you.

When you set yourself in agreement with God's will and plan for your life instead of dwelling on the past, the opinions of men, women, organizations and devils no longer matter. It does not matter how many times those around you have failed. It does not matter how many times you've failed. God never has.

And if God is for you, who can be against you? (See Rom. 8:31.) Decide today to trust Him, and watch His purposes prevail in your life.




Stop telling God you've got big problems.

Tell your problems you've got a BIG GOD!