Between You And God #11

Dear God, I still feel embarrassed about some stuff I did in the past. How can I stop thinking about it?

When we have a bad hair day, it’s easy to think everyone else is staring at us. It can make us want to run home and stay there until our hair looks good again! In reality, it’s likely that nobody else notices our hair. Why not? They’re too busy worrying about their own hair! We all tend to focus on ourselves. That’s true not only with outward things, like our hair and clothes, but also with what’s inside. When we make a mistake or say or do something embarrassing, we tend to focus on it a lot longer than anyone else does.

Have you ever tried to walk down the street backward? It’s pretty hard to keep from bumping into trees, dogs, or other people, not to mention tripping over your own feet or not seeing danger just ahead. And it looks downright silly. How would you feel if your mom drove down the street while looking backward over her shoulder the whole time? You’d probably be screaming in fear, begging her to turn around and watch where she was going. You can’t move confidently ahead if you’re always looking back.

Instead of rehashing the past all the time, realize that everyone makes mistakes, leave those mistakes by the side of the road, and move on. In Scripture, God tells you that he has planned a wonderful future especially for you (Jeremiah 29:11). Isn’t that delightful? But how will you be able to see it, to start looking forward to it, to plan for it and enjoy it if you’re always looking back? You can’t. He doesn’t want you to worry about what you did or what happened before.

Look up! Look ahead! What’s coming next?

How about You?

What have you done in the past that still troubles you? What should you do about it right now?

God Says . . .

I [Paul] focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race. Philippians 3:13-14