Looking Back

And now we look back on all this and thank God, an artesian well of thanks! When you got the Message of God we preached, you didn’t pass it off as just one more human opinion, but you took it to heart as God’s true word to you, which it is, God himself at work in you believers! 1 Thessalonians 2:13 Msg

Looking back is not always good, and can be dangerous. Take Lot’s wife as a good example of that, she looked back and turned into a pile of salt! But then she did disobey the express command of God. She did not ‘trust and obey’ as the hymn says. Looking back can be contrary to God’s will, but it can also be hurtful as we remember those times we have been a disappointment to others or to ourselves. We could have done things differently, and we know it without somebody else telling us so. No one knows our failings better than ourselves, and reminders are not necessary!

A new year filled with fresh opportunities beckons, and we can either learn from the mistakes and disappointments of our past, or be condemned to repeat them in the coming year. As the old saying goes, “The one thing we learn from history, is that we don’t learn from history”. For my part, it is more than turning over a new leaf, or trying to make a fresh start. It’s that I must put any time ahead in God’s hands, and be content to do His will, without second guessing it in impatience because things don’t happen how or when I think they should.

We have been blessed with the gift of another year to let God use us, lead us and direct our hearts, so let’s resolve to give God the time to work out our future, whatever it is, and for however long He allows. So, Happy New Year!  

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But 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. Philippians 3:13b, 14 NIV