Looking Back and moving forward

What does the Bible have to say about looking back?

The first thing that comes to my mind is Lot’s wife.  Looking back at what she was leaving was not a good thing for her.  It completely hindered her from moving forward.  She was forever stuck right where she was because she could not take her gaze from where she had been.

The Isaraelites looked back after God delivered them out of Egypt and it did not make God happy. They compared their present to the past and wanted to back to the known and familiar, even if it meant slavery.

Jesus said that whoever puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for service. (Luke 9:62)

Paul says that we should forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead, pressing on with our eyes fixed on Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

Clearly, there is a theme here.  Looking back can really keep us from moving forward.  Why?  I think it’s because we hold on to the things we find in the past, good and bad.  We hold on to hurts and offenses and debts owed us.  We long for wrongs to be righted, for things to turn out differently.  We all too often waste our energy on the past, going over what we could have done differently, what we should have said or done. We want a do-over!  Sometimes, we hold on to precious times spent with wonderful people and often spend valuable time trying to somehow recreate the good old days.  We seem to think the blessings we had were a result of something that we did… we sang the right songs, said the right prayers, or had the right schedule, or something… and if we could only recapture that formula, things would be just as good as they once were.  We also all too often waste our time and energy and focus on trying to keep yesterday’s blessings.  And like the manna kept until morning, these efforts end in rot.

But, is there a time for looking back?  Biblically speaking, I mean?  I think so.  The Psalmist recounted the past over and over again.  Why?  To remind people of who God is, of what He’s done and what He has promised to do.  The writer of Hebrews looks back to reminds us of the Heroes of the faith who have gone before us.  There is a time to look back and be grateful for what God has done, for the blessings He has given, for the promises He’s fulfilled, and to see how far we’ve come and the things we’ve learned.  There is a time for looking back to learn and reflect… but never to shame or obsess.

One church that we went to early this year happened to have a pretty a small crowd that day.  The New Year is a big time for travel here.  So, those of us who were there sat in a circle.  The pastor asked us, “What has God done for you this past year?  What are you thankful for?”  We went around the circle and everyone shared.  Some told of answers to prayer, some of times of healing or protection, some shared about blessings, stories of people coming to faith in Christ, and some shared about failures and heartaches, about God’s presence and faithfulness in those times, about lessons learned.

Then Ajaan Phanom (the pastor) asked us what we were expecting God to do in the New Year. What were we praying for, hoping for?  Again we shared.  Some shared hopes of new businesses and ventures, some shared of prayers for friends to know Christ, all in expectation of what God was going to do.  It struck me that while we spent time looking back, this wise pastor didn’t allow our thoughts to stay there, he pointed us toward the future.  He looked forward with us to what God has in store.

Hebrews 12:1 tells us to throw off everything that hinders us, the sin that so easily entangles so that we can run the race marked out for us.

Did you get that?  There is a race marked out for you, a path prepared, an adventure waiting.  And it’s a race you were designed to win.  It’s rigged, if you will.  This adventure here in Thailand… God has designed it so that I will be successful if I keep my eyes on Him.  He never sets us up for failure or calls us to something that isn’t going to either build His Kingdom or bring Him glory.  He sets us up for success and gives us all we need.

You may be looking back and thinking, “Jeni, that sounds nice, but it isn’t always true.”  I’ve failed in the past when I thought I was doing what God asked me to do.”   I know what you mean.  I’ve felt the exact same way.  Things just don’t always turn out the way we think they are going to.  But, when I look back at my life in the light of God’s Word I can only view those circumstances in a one of two ways:

1. I wasn’t actually called to what I was doing.  I talked myself into it because it’s what I wanted to do and what I thought would be best.  God did with it what He could, but it wasn’t really what He had planned for me.
2. I may not be able to see the successes, but they are there nonetheless.

This last one, is very often the case, I think.  That same part of Hebrews that I mentioned gives us a long list of people who were faithful and who obeyed God and never got see what He promised, but they behaved as though what God promised was a reality.  They were sure of what they hoped for and certain of things they could not yet see.  Their faith was in God, in who He is.  Their eyes were fixed on Him, so they knew—really knew—that He would bring about what He had spoken.  That kind of faith totally affects the way we behave.  If I know that God is going to move in Southeast Asia, if I know that He has determined that people will come to Jesus here, if I know that His will is salvation for these people, if I’m sure that He did not bring me here to waste my time, then that changes everything.  I can begin walking in that reality right now.

How?

1. By throwing off anything that is distracting me from being fully in the calling He has for me. For me this is my desire to be home. Being in a place that is so different than where I came from can be hard.  The desire to be in the familiar, especially when God blessed us with so much while we were there, is still a strong pull.  I have to continually realign my thinking. Those blessings were God’s gift to me for that time.  He has new blessings for me here and now.  Holding on to what was will slow down my race. The other thing I get tangled up in are my inadequacies: all of the things I can’t do well, the things I’m not qualified to do. But that isn’t the truth of who I am, who Christ knows me to be and what He qualifies me to do.
2. Look around.  I have to keep my eyes fixed on Christ and on what He’s doing in me. He’s perfecting my faith, growing me in holiness, making me more like Him.  I have to keep my eyes open for what He is doing here and now. God is working. He is moving. He’s moving when people ask questions about my faith and about church, or express a desire for the life that I have. He’s moving when a Thai friend says she believes in God, but isn’t a Christian, He’s moving when we meet Christians who believe but lack Christian fellowship and teaching. He’s moving when random strangers strike up conversations with me. But I will miss it if I am not present in the here and now.
3. Look forward. When I pray, I ask God to go before me. I’m supposed to be following Him. That means that in order to follow, I must be forward focused. This year, I’m asking God for inspiration, for a vision of what He can do through me. I want to catch that vision (even if it’s only a vision for the day or week I’m in) and run that bit of the race with enthusiasm.
4. Look Back and Remember. Look back for encouragement.  Remember who He is, what He has done and what He has said He will do.  And remember that all those wonderful things in the past were all surprises, things that didn’t work out just the way we thought they would, but turned into greater blessings than we could have imagined. Remember that those things that didn’t work out were ways God grew you and formed you and taught you to be more like Him.
5. Pray continually for His guidance and help. The future is His. If we want to live it to the full, we have to stay connected to Christ at all times in every circumstance and trust in His timing, wisdom, and goodness.

So, as we come to yet another new year, let’s ask ourselves… What has God done this past year? Who do you now know Him to be? What have you seen and experienced Him do?  What is He doing now? How are you walking in a truth you cannot yet see? What has He promised you? What is He waiting to do for you in the future?

What are you praying for ?