Big Takeaway: God isn’t concerned about editing your past. He’s more concerned about writing your future.
Wow. That writing was not good. Why did I think that was worth sharing?
I recently spent time reading through older blogs and devotionals I wrote years ago and had these thoughts dance through my mind.
No wonder my mom was the only one who said, “Good job!” Only a mother could appreciate this work!
It’s so easy to be critical of ourselves, isn’t it? After sitting behind the computer screen critiquing my work harder than anyone else would, I had an idea.
I’ll edit all of my older devotionals and blogs to make them sound better.
Like a mother moving swiftly to block her child from falling down a set of stairs, it was as if God stepped in and said, “Nope. You’re not going there.”
I felt the Holy Spirit halt me from making any changes to my earlier pieces of work. After trying to understand why, it hit me.
God isn’t concerned about editing my past. He’s more concerned about writing my future.
And, God isn’t concerned about editing your past. He’s more concerned about writing your future.
I think if we’re being honest, we spend a lot of time trying to edit our past. We wish we could have sounded better, looked better, written better, or performed better. We woulda, coulda, shoulda.
But the truth is, God knew what choices we were going to make before we made them and He doesn’t want to edit them. If He did, He would have made a time machine for us, right?
God is so much cooler than a time machine. He takes every choice we make, good and bad, and intertwines them to form a messy, beautiful life that’s His.
He doesn’t belittle small beginnings.
He doesn’t hold a grudge if you mess up.
He doesn’t criticize you if you have a less than ideal performance.
He offers the opposite: love, understanding, forgiveness, and peace.
Instead of wasting energy trying to edit your past, I think it’s more helpful to ask God what He wants to teach you from your past. Invite Him to help you write your future and give Him final editing rights.
His story for you, unedited, will be one worth living and telling.
Reflect:
Is there something from your past that often steals your energy and joy? If there is, ask God to help you release it to Him. It may be helpful to make a list if there’s more than one and pray over each one. Then, invite God to help you write a better story for today!
I love writing scripture in my journal. It helps me commit verses to memory! Try writing out Isaiah 43:18-19 this week, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (NIV)
Comments