Unfortunately, in most cases our natural tendency is to hold onto the past in unhealthy ways. Whether an event was long ago or very recent, we tend to dwell on the past in some way, shape, or form. Sometimes it’s in the form of replaying a situation in our minds over and over with regret, sadness, or imagining how it could’ve turned out differently, and picturing how we could’ve changed it. Other times we live in the past because we are currently living the outcome of a past event or decision, and we can’t help but focus on how a past decision/person/event is affecting us mentally or altering our current course. Sometimes we don’t mean to do it, and something or someone triggers a past memory that we thought we had let go of, and there it is, right on the surface again, dragging up raw emotions we thought we had put to rest. And then there are scenarios when something happens and instead of dealing with it quickly, we carry it with us for too long, unable to move past it. The point is, our minds are thoughts and complex, and when not channeled properly, they place us in bondage, keeping us stuck in the same old thoughts and patterns instead of moving on with strength and resiliency.
As with most things, these tendencies are easiest to spot in hindsight or when observing someone else. It is very hard to be truly objective with ourselves and realize what we are doing at the time. We may be wallowing in misery without making great strides to move forward and are often blind to the toll we are taking on ourselves and our lives. The thing is, we can never get time back. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. Yet many of us have wasted days, or even months or years, wasting time thinking about things we can never change. As I said earlier, this is easiest to spot in someone else. We all have had those moments in talking to someone who carries their past with them and readily reopens every wound, whether it’s dysfunction in their family, or times their heart has been broken, financial regrets, career mistakes, past conflict, the list is endless. No matter what you say to these people to try to help them, they keep wallowing in their misery, cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel, and won’t let go of what is on their mind. They can’t close that chapter and move on with a fresh perspective to what lies ahead. A classic example is someone who has had their heart broken so badly by past relationships, that every time they meet someone new they bring that heartache, mistrust, and dysfunction to the forefront, burying their feelings, putting up a wall, and destroying the chance of a relationship before it can even start. They won’t even give anyone else a chance.
Dwelling on the past may seem innocent enough, just a common reaction to some of the harder things in life. After all, our lives are all full of complexities and we are emotional beings. But it should not be our reaction to anything at anytime. It is purely a device of Satan to keep us in a stagnant position, or even reverting backwards. His goal is always to stop us from following the Lord. He wants to throw every setback imaginable in our paths. He’ll even give us the idea that our behavior is justifiable; life is hard after all, so no big deal that we are having some trouble processing our emotions. Don’t listen to him; it IS a big deal.
The Lord exhorts us to move on from the past. He wants us to turn to Him, lay our burdens at His feet, properly process our emotions with His help, grieve healthily, trust His plan, never doubt that our lives are entirely in His control, and obediently move forward in our lives, continuing to walk with Him and what He has planned next. When we decide to stay in the past, or wallow in our misery and circumstances, we are in effect saying to Him, “I don’t trust You, and I won’t give my problems to You. I can’t surrender my troubles and worries to You, they are just too big. I won’t let go. I don’t want to move forward with You.” But this mentality is exhausting, debilitating, negative, weak, crippling and unwise. It hinders our spiritual growth, weakens our faith, hurts our relationship with the Lord, and robs us of His present plans and the blessings He wants to bestow upon us. It furthermore robs us of the healing He wants to give us, the strength and resiliency He wants to form within us, and the lessons He wants to teach us.
In 1 Samuel 16:1, we find an account which briefly touches on this subject, and I love the Lord’s bold, to-the-point response. In the previous chapter, after years of disobedience and consistently rejecting the word of the Lord, Saul finally reaps what he sowed, and the Lord instructs Samuel to tell him that He was going to take the kingdom of Israel away from him. Chapter 15 concludes with verse 35, saying, “And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel”.
But Samuel’s mourning was lingering too long. He was lost in his grief instead of looking to the Lord, and the Lord had to snap him out of it: “Now the Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided Myself a king among his sons’” 1 Samuel 16:1. Undoubtedly, what we don’t read in these verses is that the Lord was there for Samuel, and was ready and willing to walk him through the emotions he was dealing with in the aftermath of Saul’s disobedience. The Lord wants our obedience, and we are to trust Him even when things don’t make sense, or seem hard to process. Prayer and trust in the Lord will align our hearts with His will. But clearly we see here that Samuel wasn’t looking to the Lord. He was consumed with his own thoughts, emotions and confusion that were stirring him up instead of feeling peace by looking to the Lord in faith.
The Lord had plans, He was ready to move forward with them, and so He basically had to say to Samuel, ‘How long are you going to wallow in your misery instead of trusting Me?’. Still, after the Lord tries to intervene and directly tells him it’s time to move on, Samuel responds in fear, just as we often do. Our emotions and doubts can be paralyzing. But once again, the Lord is incredible and gives this wonderful response, “I will show you what you shall do.” 1 Samuel 16:3.
The Bible tells us, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you.” Psalm 55:22. He wants us to lay our burdens at His feet, but here is the key part: leave them there. I very often pray to the Lord about my burdens, but never actually hand them over to Him. I still carry them with me, burdening myself with them. But He wants us to cast our burdens on Him, He will carry them for us, provide healing, and then as it says in Samuel, He will show us what we should do.
If something from the past is weighing you down, and Satan is successfully using it to hinder you from enjoying the present and walking fully with the Lord, end it now. No matter how long it has been going on, the Lord can instantly remove this burden and help you change your way of thinking. The Lord isn’t living in the past, and He doesn’t want us to, either. He never intended for our past to build up, adding weight after weight to our backpacks until they are too heavy to carry. That is not His design or intention for us at all. He promises hope and healing. But it can only happen when we have full faith and trust in Him. HE IS GOD—HE IS BIG ENOUGH TO HANDLE ANYTHING WE HAVE EVER GONE THROUGH, AND ANYTHING WE WILL FACE IN THE FUTURE.
If you have, in a sense, forgotten how big your God is, because Satan has made wounds from your past take precedence in your life, it’s time to pray wholeheartedly to the Lord to remove this burden. End it now. Ask Him to help you change your thinking and truly let it go. He will take it from you, and He will help you end this pattern. Instead of living in the past, He will show you how wonderful it is to be fully engaged in the present, and have Him prepare and lead you in His current plans for you, instead of being trapped in the past.
Don’t live in the past
Yesterday is poured concrete
Only today is moldable clay