"Don't Look Back"

Sometimes I get to lookin’ back,

And wishin’ different things,

‘Bout times I made severe mistakes,

It pulls on my heartstrings.

Sometimes I feel, relive the pain,

Of what I did back then,

And ask what was I thinking,

And those I hurt back when.

I know the Lord’s forgiven me,

And I thank God for that,

Regret is not a welcome friend,

But leaves me dull and flat.

No hope for better history,

We cannot get it back,

But learn from every failure,

It helps to stay on track.

Take the grace God gives today,

And our tomorrows, too,

No matter what has happened,

We still have more to do.

And, no, it’s never finished,

Until God says we’re done,

So dream and pray and work today,

Until life’s race is run.

Cowboy up and say good-bye,

To all our yesterdays,

And listen to the Spirit,

Attentive to His ways.

The devil is a liar,

When he throws up the past,

Remind him of his future,

And what God says will last.

Nothing that we ever did,

Can make God’s love slow down,

Intense and unconditional,

It always can be found.

Yesterday, it brought me here,

But now God gives today,

I am His and He is mine,

I’ll spread His love always.

“…but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14, NAS)

When Paul speaks of “forgetting what lies behind” he is not suggesting that we literally cannot remember the past. That would be impossible. But he is describing a different way to remember, in which the past no longer has the power to trigger us emotionally. We remember, but without the same degree of pain, regret, hurt or anger because of God’s grace. We have been and we are being healed, and it’s in the power of that healing grace that we forgive ourselves and move on. God helps us to focus, not on where we’ve been, but on where we’re going in Him. The upward call energizes us for today and tomorrow.

Lord, help us make peace with the past, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Mikel Donahue, used by permission. Thanks, Mikel, and God bless your day.