Dear brothers and sisters, if we are people who have truly accepted Christ’s redemptive works on us and believe in His second coming, we are actually walking in paths that lead to eternity. Every moment we are living now is in exchange for the eternal kingdom to come. Therefore, what is most painful and helpless for us is when we are in a state of stagnancy or inactivity. When we see that our spiritual life, servings, relationships, studies or career are all stagnant, without much progression, we will start to feel downcast. Over time, we will also lose the anticipation in our living and have the sense that we are wasting our moments away. But let us take a reflective step and ask ourselves, why are you in a state of stagnancy? There are two possible reasons to this and that is, number one, we are not able to lay our past down. And number two, we have lost strength to strive for our future.
For the past, perhaps there are some failures that you cannot let go, the way people have let you down or hurt you, you cannot reconcile with. You feel regretful for the good things you were not able to fight for. All these bits and bobs of the past occupy your heart so much that you are not able to move forward, your faith cannot develop, your love cannot grow and you cannot give your all in terms of living or serving. There seems to be no improvement in all areas of your life. Now if you are in this state, the Lord wants to tell you, not to let your negative feelings hold you back because God loves you and He has placed eternity within those who believe in Him. So the Lord does not want you to remain in this plight but He has provided ways for you to walk out of it.
So firstly, you have to go back and restore trust in His promises. Next, you have to face your present upfront and be guided by the Holy Spirit to go through it. Do not let yourself sink into another session of self pity because if you walk out of the other end with the Lord’s leading, all your past weaknesses will serve its purpose. You will realise that it becomes a testimony of your life that could support many others and you yourself mature in faith.
But how do we walk out of the crippling emotions of stagnancy? In Philippians 3:13-15, Paul said, “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.”
The Purpose Of Our Past
Now, in the verses that says “forgetting what is behind”, it is not talking about escaping our realities or current situations. It is telling us to take it more lightly. Some of us may dwell hard and long on our past failures or mistakes, so even though that mark was in the past, it carries on to create dents and damages to their current living. They are often held hostage by their emotions of inabilities. For others, it could be ways that others have hurt them before, through words or actions, and they take it so hard that even though the person who said those hurtful words may have forgotten what they said, but the wounds continue to fester in the one at the receiving end. This then leads to self pity, low self esteem, bitterness or insecurities. But the words of Paul reminds us that we should not let the past and the feelings of it drag us down, because these feelings does not define us nor does it define your future. But is it such that we should totally forgo caring about our past? That is not entirely so as well. If we truly follow the Lord, our past will surely have a purpose with God’s presence. Our past is to give us important spiritual lessons. So when we think back on our past, we ought to reflect only upon one thing, “What is God trying to lead me to see or learn through it?” Then, place the meaning of the lesson in our hearts, give thanks and you will gradually see that all your pathways and journey so far has restored its spiritual meaning.
A Future That Bears Fruits
Then Paul went on to say, “straining toward what is ahead.” Now, God has created us to move forward. We can lay down our past, but at the same time, we have to progress ahead, because it works hand in hand. The more we move forward with God’s leading, the more we are able to let go of our past. If we were to struggle with our shortfalls yesterday, have we tried thinking of what we should be accomplishing today instead? The problems of the past is to help us gain more wisdom, experience and drive to fulfil the things today. It may be tough to do so at first, as we press on to pray, reflect and restore what God wants us to focus and value today, and we move into actions of faith (be it to care for someone, finish up an assignment diligently or servings), you will see fruits of faith bearing. In the form of situations improving, people being build up, your love and perseverance growing and many more.
That is where we slowly become more and more complete in the image of Christ, as His child. So do we have to deal with our emotions? Of course we do. But we have to be discerning. Let us not get even more troubled or frustrated as we manage our negative feelings. The scripture have told us: Forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead. Keep our eyes on the right prize. God bless.
