Leaving the Past Behind
"Not everyone or everything needs access to the current version of you..."
Not everything or everyone should move forward with you. Some are meant to stay in the past with all memories burnt to a crisp. When Lot and his family were told to go and not look behind, there was a reason for it. It wasn't punishment, it was protection.
Last week, as in, I wrote the post, and then a day later I'm over on my old Instagram account, and seen a message from someone I left in 2012. The message read "hey stranger long time". My thought on that was, yeah you can stay there, unread. Unopened. Untouched. It left me thinking that some things and people from the past are meant to stay there, in the past. I won't sit here and tell you that it's God who told me to leave this person in the past. What I will tell you is, I recognised that my present does not have the room for them because they were no good for me then, thus, why should I entertain them now?
There are times we give access to things and individuals from the past for no true reason other than, for old time sake. But, what if the old time sake is the thing that stops you from getting to your true potential? Is it worth risking your peace of mind, and progression? And no, I'm not saying that there are individuals you shouldn't reach out to, and things you shouldn't revisit. Some individuals and some things from our past shouldn't be abolished. This is where wisdom comes in. If a person from your past had harmed you, and you know that having them in your life was not the best thing for you, why would you give them access to you again? This isn't to say you can't forgive them, if you're reading this and are a Christian, you know we are called to forgive. However, just because you forgive them does not mean you put yourself in harms way to test waters. What if they have not changed? What if they are still operating in the same fashion to simply drag you down all over again? What is stopping you from leaving the past behind?
Not everyone or everything needs access to the current version of you. For you to turn around, you might become as Lot's wife and turn into a pillar of salt. Not literally, but, that thing you were working toward, may wind up becoming stuck in that moment. The person you were working towards becoming, may become stuck in that moment. Is it really worth it?
Proverbs 26:11 is the greatest warning for us in this moment "As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly". And so I ask, are you a fool returning to your foolishness like a dog that goes back to its vomit?
Before you take your past into your present life, think about the overall cost. Will it be more straining on your mental, physical, emotional and/or spiritual health if you brought that forward? Would it have been better had you walked away and carried on with the life you were living? At times we think one more time won't harm us, then we go digging in the dirt of past life just to then become tied down with the unwanted treasure from our past. Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your work in our lives. Thank You for taking us from our darkness to be able to walk in Your light. We are here, not for any good we have done, but simply because of Your love, and for that, I give You thanks.
I pray that where temptation arises or has arisen from our past, may we be able to boldly walk away from them. Let nothing from our past lives become a stronghold for us. Let us never forget to seek You first, in all things, at all times.
Be our guide oh Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thank You
Thank you for sticking around friend. I honestly want to be able to do this as consistently as I was before, so please, keep me in prayers. It's not always easy to show up, life at times wants its own invite to a party it was never invited to, and then drifts happen. So, again I ask, please keep me in prayers. God bless. Careen.
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