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
Dwight Clough is the author of four Christian books and is an active member of Lake City Church in Madison. This devotional is also available via email and you may review the archives back to 2002. To contact Dwight or Kim, use their contact form. You may also support their ministry.