How can I lay aside the hurts of the past?

June 30, 2014: How can I lay aside the hurts of the past? Please "Share" this new Precious Prodigal post: http://bit.ly/1pQ2H2B

Isaiah 43:18-19 "Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing...I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert."

We’ve had the twins, who are 10, with us for a couple of weeks, and I realized again what a gift it is to be making wonderful memories with these precious grandchildren. When they’re here, the sun seems to shine brighter, the colors seem more intense, and their laughter and delight at everything is contagious. I wish all our memories were as happy as these. But they aren’t, are they?

When the past comes tapping on your shoulder, what kind of memories does it bring? Does it bring sorrow over something or someone you’ve lost? Does it bring to mind some things that were done to you? The answers might be different depending on the person you ask. But one thing we all have in common is that we are almost certainly carrying some baggage from the past. And it’s one of the things we need to lay aside.

That “baggage from the past” might be childhood abuse, an unfaithful spouse, or the broken heart that only someone who loves a prodigal can understand. Regardless of the cause, all baggage includes some pain from the past. Every time we bring it to mind, it hurts just like it did when it happened, and we can’t seem to break the cycle of revisiting it over and over again.

When we’re caught in that destructive cycle, we’re somewhat like a woman whose house burned down. Every day she takes us through the ashes, saying, “This used to be my beautiful home before my house burned down. This used to be my kitchen where I cooked wonderful meals. But then my house burned down. This was where my husband and I slept at night…before my house burned down.”

You get the picture. I’m not trying to minimize your pain. I’ve hurt that way too, and I know we can’t help but go there sometimes. However, we don’t need to pitch a tent and stay there. It’s terrible that your house burned down, and I know the loss was devastating. But walking around in the ashes again and again isn’t helping you. If you need to be there briefly, then do it and get it out of your system. But at some point you need to move on to building a new house because you don’t live there anymore.

In our text verse, God encourages us not to remember or consider the “things of old” because He’s going to do a new work. He wants to make a way in the wilderness of your life where there seems to be no way. And He isn’t going to give you a trickle of water in that desert place…He wants to give you a river of water. But you and I can’t reach forward to the blessings God has for us if our hands are full of regrets and remorse and the hurts from yesterday.

You and I weren’t responsible for the pain people caused us. They did something to us once, and they own it. However, when we relive it over and over again, that’s not the fault of the person who hurt us. We’re doing it to ourselves, and we need to let it go.

Challenge for Today: Can you, just for today, let go of that pain from the past? Can you ask God to help you reach out for the new and wonderful thing He’s trying to do in your life?