Eternal Souls Christian Blog and Commentary

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Let go of the past

Let go of the past

Let go of the past

Thought- We cannot move forward when we keep looking back.

Scripture- For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Insight: If we have been around long enough on this earth, we have all had bad things happen to us. It is the very nature of living in a fallen, sinful world. Jesus told his followers in John 16:33 that “ in this world you will have trouble. But take heart because I have overcome the world.” As Christ followers we must always keep our eyes on the future and what God is preparing us for. He uses our past to prepare us for a future calling, and many lessons are taught through difficult trials. The key to learning the lessons he wants us to learn and applying them to our future is we must be willing to move ahead. The past is history, and we must embrace the future in order to keep growing.

Many people get stuck in their past and are unwilling or unable to escape the trauma of their past. This is certainly not any easy thing. My mother got divorced 42 years ago and it still troubles her to this day. She still spends countless hours reliving the past, and it is so hard to watch her relive all the pain she had already experienced back then. In the military, it is called PTSD where the victim of traumatic events continually relives them over and over again and cannot escape. That is so sad and terrifying. God can heal us from our past pain, but we must be willing to surrender all of the past trauma to Him. I believe God does want us to let go of our past troubles and look to a brighter future that He is preparing us for. Otherwise, we can miss out on some of the best of what He has in store for us. He hurts when we hurt, and He knows the pain we are in. He wants to comfort us and restore us and provide us a hopeful future. The big question is will we let him?

Prayer: Father God, help us to somehow move on from our traumatic experiences of the past to a more hopeful future in you. We pray in the power and strength of Jesus. Amen!