[Discoveries] 05-31-07 The role of the past

[Inspiration in Your Inbox]

/*From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother's womb you have been my 
God. -- Psalm 22:10*/

Here's the fourth paradigm shift: The past is part of you.

I spent years trying to divorce myself from my past. I tried to ignore 
it, to overcome it, to forget it, to pretend it didn't happen. But none 
of those things worked.

I finally realized the truth: You can try to forget the past, but the 
past doesn't forget you.

You are that three year old, that sixteen year old. They are part of 
you. Everything in the present flows out of the past.

Some people, driven by a faulty interpretation of Philippians 3:13, 
think we are to forget the hurts of the past. But this is not so. This 
verse refers to setting aside past self-righteous accomplishments so we 
can focus on something worthwhile: knowing Christ.

What do we do with past hurts? For one thing, we are to forgive the 
offenses of the past. This, of course, is impossible, like everything 
else in the Christian life, and cannot be done without God's 
intervention. But, beyond that, on a grander scale, every one of those 
hurts becomes an opportunity to get to know Christ. Here's a place to 
start: Okay, it hurt then and it still hurts now, but what, Lord Jesus, 
do you want me to understand about You in this hurt?

God wants us whole, not split up into parts. Once I understood the 
connection between my past and the present, I started on a journey 
toward wholeness and into a discovery of a healing God.

Be encouraged!
Dwight


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