Your Past Is Not Your Future

"You can spend your whole life figuring out why you are messed up and still be messed up once you've figured it out."

I jokingly say from time to time, "why can't everyone be normal like me?" But in truth, aren't we all messed up? When we look back and try to make sense of all that has happened in the past, we are bound to be frustrated. Constantly replaying, reviewing and rewinding is like trying to walk forward while looking backward. Our past, no matter how tragic or terrible is GONE! We can never reach back and change it. Even the good parts of our past are gone. Trying to live there drains our lives of the present. It only wastes time and energy. We can spend our lives trying to figure out why we're messed up, who's fault it is and still be messed up once we've figured it out. After all our searching, we figure out the WHY, but knowing why doesn't produce the power to change. We must know the WHO. You don't go to the problem for the answer. Jesus is the answer. We must move from the problem to the answer. Our answer is Jesus. The question is, do we believe what He did was enough?

God doesn't say, "I want you to remember your shame and learn from it." He says, "forget about it because I have." God won't remind you of your past so don't let anyone else - forget about it. He is a God of restoration and delights in turning the old into something new.

I have watched my husband restore a couple of corvettes and have been amazed at what the car looked like when he got it and what it looked like when he finished with it (although, ironically, he says he's never really finished). What was old and ugly turned into something new and beautiful. It took months and months and lots of patience to get even the tiniest detail replaced. He often gets comments about how beautiful the car is and sometimes I think "it didn't always look like this". I believe that is the way it is with us. God just keeps working on us one part at a time until all the parts have been restored and replaced and we are the beautiful creation HE originally intended us to be.

Window of Opportunity

Upon turning the ripe old age of 39 this week, I have been thinking about how small our window of opportunity is to make a difference in this world. Each of us will walk this planet for a certain amount of days. You and I have been given a specific number of breaths and heartbeats to expend and we all have the opportunity to make a difference in our lifetime. Take a moment right now to think about what you will do with the minutes, days, weeks, months and years God has given you. I hope you'll take the time to consider this thought. It just may be one of the most important questions you'll ever ask yourself.

God has given you incredible potential, a purpose and vision designed especially for you and He has equipped you to fulfill it. This is an amazing truth that most christians fail to really grasp.

We live in a phenomenal time in history and the urgency of the times in which we live is evident. The clock is ticking and it is vital for us as Christians to discover and then get on with the vision God has for our lives.

There is no escaping time. Despite the best efforts of our culture to halt time through skincare regimes and plastic surgery, time passes for all of us. We are each entrusted with the opportunity to decide how we'll spend the time we're given. Yes, God has entrusted you and me with time! What will you do with the time you have?

Today, each of us can make choices that impact the fulfillment and fruitfulness of our time here on earth. Some people drink their life away, some allow unforgiveness to eat their life away and others still will spend their life as victims of circumstance. Then there are those who have decided to spend their time living both saved and called....a decision that shapes how they live out everyday. They have committed themselves to the greatest cause of all - the cause of Christ!