Getting past the past
In the book of Isaiah it urges us to “forget the former things; do not dwell in the past“, but how do you really do that? We often think we’ve finally gotten beyond it and then something happens and all those same old memories and feelings wash over us again. It’s obvious from the intensity of the emotions that the event or encounter is still very much with us today. It’s not gone. It’s not forgotten.
The truth is, we can’t effectively forget something until it is resolved in our heart and mind. Any issue that is left “unsettled“ just gets added to that load of baggage that wecarry around with us each and every day. As much as we try to rid ourselves of it, the accumulation gets heavy at times. The anger. The hurt. The distrust. The negative self-image.The guilt. Little by little it drags us down and keeps us from being able to clear space in our lives for the “new things” that God says he is doing.
God didn’t leave us defenseless in grappling with these “ghosts”, however. He gave us three very specific ways to deal with past events that will finally put them to rest and release us from their effects. This week‘s blogposts will look atthese three amazing tools and how to effectively use them to unpack that baggage for once and for all.
The next post will look at the first of these tools and provide God’s answer for dealing with the people and things that have hurt us.
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