I remember in my early teens (a long, long time ago) watching a movie titled “The Gumball Rally.” In the movie, teams raced across the country over the course of several days. The winner was the first team to arrive at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California.
Once scene that stuck with me involved the Italian driver as he climbed into his Ferrari to begin the race. He tore the rearview mirror from its place and exclaimed, “First rule of Italian racing: what’s behind you doesn’t matter.”
That’s a pretty good rule for everyday living: keeping the past in proper perspective. I wouldn’t say the past doesn’t matter. Both good and bad past experiences have shaped us and brought us to the place we now find ourselves. However, all too often we give it too much power in our present and future.
You can learn from your past, but too many people live in their past. You should be thankful for your past but we not indebted to your past. We let the bad experiences of the past become excuses for bad choices in the present. We let the good experiences of the past keep us from expecting new and greater things from God.
It is not a bad thing to remember the past fondly and to celebrate God’s goodness in days gone by. The book of Psalms often recounts the past deeds of God as a reason to give Him praise and offer worship.
How Living In Your Past Can Hinder You
The danger comes when we give focus to the past and long for those days to return. Consider these two ways living in the past can hinder what God wants to do in our present and future.
Your past can fertilize seeds of discontentment.
When we are overly fond of the past, we grow discontent with our present and the potential of our future. Paul reminded us in Philippians 4:11 that contentment is a learned behavior. A preoccupation with the past is an indicator that we are not content with today. Discontentment is like a spiritual cancer that grows silently until it takes over and debilitates our heart.
James 1:17 teaches us that God has and/or will give us everything that is good for us. While the past contains many of those “good things,” today has blessings of its own. We see those blessings through the “windshield” and “side window” as we travel through life. If we stare at the rear view mirror, we miss the good right in front of us.
Your past can quench your faith.
We find Jesus’ first miracle in John 2. At the wedding in Cana, the host ran out of wine. Jesus miraculously changes water pots full of water into the best wine the partygoers had ever tasted. The miracle proves that with Jesus, the best is always YET to come.
Our desire to return to the past does not demonstrate anticipation of the God’s future for us. God’s activity in our life is always progressive; He is moving us from one glorious encounter to the next. When we live in the past, we reject the better that God has for us.
We can read several cases in the Bible where God promises better things to come.
- God promised exiles returning from Babylonian captivity that the glory of the rebuilt temple would be greater than the original. (Haggai 2:6-9)
- God promised through Isaiah that after they had suffered a while, He would do a new work through His people. (Isaiah 43:19)
- Through a relationship with Jesus, the old in our life passes away and new things come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
- Ultimately, God will make a new heaven and earth. (Revelation 21:5)
A Healthy Perspective of Your Past
Celebrate your past, thank God for it, and cherish it. Just don’t worship it. What’s behind you may matter, but it does not matter as much as it may seem.
No matter how good or bad your past has been, the future holds greater possibilities that we can imagine. Never believe for a moment that you have seen your best days. God has more in store than we can ask or imagine.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. – Ephesians 3:20-21