Isaiah 43:18,19: “Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.... Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even made a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”
We are chained to our past. It is with us forever. We can't chuck it, but God can turn our past into a bright future, if we let Him.
Phillip Brooks puts it this way: "There are some who want to get rid of the their past, who, if they could, would begin all over again, . . . but you must learn, you must let God teach you, that the only way to get rid of your past is to get a future out of it."
In this poem I expressed it this way:
Just start out fresh and new,
We'd do things, oh, so differently:
Our failures would be few.
We'd skirt around all our mistakes--
If our past we could redo.
But we can't throw our history out.
We cannot clear the slate.
The failures on our path of life,
Our anger and our hate,
The unwise things that we have done,
We can't eliminate.
Yet, God knows how we've messed things up.
He knows our pain and sorrow.
He's calling us to trust in Him,
And from His wisdom borrow.
For He can take our sordid past,
And build a bright tomorrow.
I trust that you will let God take your past and turn it into a bright future. I know He can. I think of a most wonderful example. I could mention several, beginning with the Apostle Paul. But I want to bring it up to a more recent, and more personal example.
I know of a young man, who is very dear to my heart. We had him in our home for part of his growing-up years. Although he was a joy to us, he was also a sorrow. He was forever getting himself into trouble with the law with reckless driving, driving while under the influence of alcohol, speeding on his motorcycle, etc. He spent a little time in jail. He was always sorry for his actions, but could not help himself.
For years his parents and others had been praying for him, but he seemed just to harden his heart to God. When he moved out of our place and began living on his own, he rarely contacted us, or his parents. But then something happened. God got a hold of him, and saved him. His life made a complete turn-around. Whereas he used to take the name of the Lord in vain, he now praises the Lord. Now, instead of avoiding church and Christians, he enjoys fellowship with Christians.
God took this young man’s OLD nature and made it into a NEW nature. He renovated the OLD house. He did not tear it down and scrap it. No. He made something unique out of the material that was already there. After all, God created him in the first place, so He knew that he was worthwhile saving.
I am so glad that God can take our OLD nature and remake it into something NEW and worthwhile. Remember: “The only way to get rid of your past is to get a future out of it."
© Helen Dowd
See also:
The Play Of The Year