Give Your Past To God
“Come, let us return to the LORD! He has torn us in pieces; now he will bandage our wounds. In just a short time, he will restore us so we can live in his presence. Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know him! Then he will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.” -- Hosea 6:1-3
What is your story? Everybody has one. We each have secrets, things we’d rather other people not know about for fear they’ll think less of us. But we carry that past with us. It makes us who we are today.
I recently learned that a friend has been married five times. I was shocked. Totally. Do I think less of him? Not at all. I see the person he is today -- and the woman he’s lovingly called his wife for 35 years.
He was once a young man searching for a fairy tale life. Oh, he doesn’t call it that. Those are my words. He says he wanted someone to share his life with. He wanted a family and companionship. It took a few rough knocks before he looked up and saw the person meant for him. His wife, too, had endured a bad relationship. But together they make a beautiful whole.
Another young woman still feels insecure about her time in high school. She desperately wanted to be popular and accepted. She was neither but it didn’t stop her from trying to win approval. In so doing, she did some things she’d rather forget. She’s not that person anymore but she can’t seem to shake the memory of who she once was.
One of the beautiful things about God is that we get a do over. No matter what we’ve done or where we’ve been, God still loves us. And He will restore us if we will only seek Him out, ask forgiveness, and change the direction of our lives. Sometimes that is way easier than wiping the memory of past sins from our own minds.
What are you hanging on to? What can’t you forget? What aren’t you trusting God with? Because that’s what it really comes down to: Trusting God. Do we believe that He has really forgiven us? Or do we secretly think that He’s holding a grudge -- called our past sin -- over us as we step into the future?
God isn’t like that. You know that and so do I. He’s willing to put our past behind us and restore us. He says so. Again and again.
This doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences of our actions. Of course there are. That can be a good thing if we use past experiences to learn and grow and to deepen our commitment to God.
God wants an open, honest relationship with us. He wants us to seek Him, to trust Him, to believe what He says. Don’t proclaim your love for God and then turn away, refusing to give Him your darkest moments. Hand them over to God and watch Him restore your life.
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