PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• For many of us, it’s hard not to constantly look in the rearview mirror of life.
After all, we know where we’ve been, what we’ve done, and what we wish we could change.
We look back and recite to ourselves all the would’ve’s, could’ve’s, and should’ve’s.
And we get nowhere with it.
We know the promise of 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Yet we still wallow in the ugliness of our past choices.
When I came across this graphic of the rusted old tractor amid the beauty of the newly grown tulips, I couldn’t help but remember that God has promised to bring beauty from ashes (Isaiah 61:3).
And the ugliness of that rusted tractor has somehow magnified the beauty of the tulips!
If our past is represented in the rusty tractor, it’s place among the tulips is an example of Romans 8:28–“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
God will use our past hurts and past choices to His purpose for good things.
He won’t condone our sin, but He can use the ugliness of our past to magnify the beauty of our future.
However, if we constantly look behind us, we’ll miss what He’s doing.
Looking in the rearview mirror and beating ourselves up is not the way He wants us to live.
If we’ve confessed our sins and repented, the Bible tells us there is no condemnation (Romans 8:1).
If God isn’t condemning us, why should we?
Today, as you pray, thank God that when He forgives us, He chooses not to remember our sins, but uses our past for His good purpose.
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you stop dwelling on your past and focus on the good God is doing in your life.
