Don’t let the past define your future, become a new creation

Life is constantly filled with defining moments, both good and bad. We can vividly remember events that took place many years ago because they represented moments that defined our future. I remember that first brand new car, a total surprise from my husband, sitting in the driveway adorned with a huge red bow. That special Christmas when a very special horse showed up in our barn, another lovely gift from my husband, and became a part of our family for the next 20 years. The birth of our first child, and of course that special day when our 4th daughter was born in the car enroute to the hospital. There are also those moments that are remembered for the anguish they caused: the brain tumor diagnosis, the barn on fire, that fall that caused 3 bones to break…..As I meditated about so many incidents that had occurred in my life I began to see how we allow ourselves to be defined by events in the past. These things have altered our course and colored our perception.

I began to think of all the people I know that have forever been changed by a single event that became a defining moment in their future. It might have been a divorce, a serious illness, the loss of a loved one…. all traumatic situations.

We all have our struggles and sometimes those mountains seem too high to cross. Maybe they are too high but there are also tunnels to navigate through to the other side. Sometimes we allow those situations, those moments of such sorrow to forever keep us from going in a forward direction. I was thinking about a race. This life is like a very long race with many obstacles to overcome. I never saw anyone run a race backwards! You always keep your eyes looking ahead to that finish line. No one ever turns around and goes back to the starting point. We do that in our minds though. We mentally decide the challenge that lays before us is too much to handle and we have no endurance to run the race.

What about the God who has defined us as His beloved children? We are not victims but we are victors! We can safely leave the past behind us, those defining moments that created fears and insurmountable obstacles, can be overcome.

I know many people that lost parents at very young ages. They didn’t have the loving support of a family as they grew up. Some of them sought drugs and alcohol to ease their suffering. Others sought out good examples to follow to help guide them through the rough terrain of teenage years. The results spoke for themselves. Those that allowed an event to alter their future in a negative way never were able to overcome the trials they faced as life marched on. Those that chose to overcome those tragic events and press forward, definitely marched to the beat of a victorious song.

We need to pull together all the resources that are provided to us by God and stop letting the events of our past pull us apart. We need to let go of the past and rejoice everyday in this glorious life we have been given.