Is there a danger in remembering when our lives were better?

Here's the Precious Prodigal post: August 13, 2014 Is there a danger in remembering when our lives were better? #livinginthepast #liveinthepresent Please "Share" using this "ShortLink" = http://bi

Job 29:2: "Oh that I were as in months past."

Yesterday I wrote about how remembering the good times can be a tool to give us hope during the dark times. Remembering how God blessed us in the past can give us hope in the present. And both those good times and hard times can teach us to trust God in the dark for what He’s given us in the light. However, there’s also a danger in looking back and remembering the good times.

Job had lost everything…his wealth, his kids, and even his health. It wasn’t because of anything he had done wrong, so I can totally understand his questioning why all those things were happening. I can even understand his looking back and grieving what he had lost. Please don’t hear me saying there’s anything wrong with that because you and I have been there, haven’t we?

The danger comes when we get stuck wishing that our life “were as in months past.” (Job 29:2) Getting stuck there can create several problems, not the least of which is we don’t live there anymore. I’ve used this analogy before, but it bears repeating. It’s like the woman whose house burned down, and don’t misunderstand me…it’s very sad that her house burned down. It really is.

There she is walking through the ashes of that house every day and saying to herself, “This is where I used to cook the delicious meals before my house burned down” or “This is where I used to sit in the living room before my house burned down.” I get it. Her house burned down, and that hurts. I even understand wishing the house hadn’t burned down.

However, wishing it hadn’t happened, wishing your husband hadn’t left, your prodigal hadn’t gone to the “far country,” your heart hadn’t been broken isn’t going to make it so. All it’s going to do is keep you from moving forward and building the new house God has planned for you. Because He does, you know…have something wonderful in His plans for you.

Getting stuck wishing things were like they were not only keeps us from moving forward, but it also keeps us from seeing what God has for us in the present. I know how hard that present can be. I’m right there with you. But wishing our life were “as in months past” will quickly lead to asking how we can get out of our situation rather than asking what we can get out of it.

And make no mistake about it…God does have something for us in the trials we're facing. He wouldn’t allow this pain in our life if He didn’t plan to use it for our good and His glory. There’s nothing wrong with looking back and remembering God’s blessings in the past. But remembering He has a blessing for us in our present is something we need to hold fast.

Challenge for Today: Can you, just for today, remind yourself that the past is gone and you don’t live there anymore?