Jen’s Gem: Let go of the past. Your future is waiting.
Going to the grocery store is not one of my favorite things to do. I know I should be grateful that we have an abundance of food items that we can obtain at the drop of the hat. Yet this is a chore I put off until the only things in my fridge are butter and baking soda.
One morning this week as I was preparing my breakfast, I searched for my container of plain, whole milk Greek yogurt. I combed every shelf…nothing. Then I remembered that I had used the last of it a few days prior. I had two options:
- Make a few eggs.
- Use my son’s vanilla flavored, nonfat Greek yogurt.
I chose door #2. Within the first mouthful, I could feel the muscles in my face squish up. His yogurt was so sweet that I almost felt like I might go into a sugar coma. It was simply too much. Lesson? Put two containers of my yogurt on the grocery list.
For more than a year I eliminated sugar and processed foods from my eating. I’m not saying a treat has not crossed my lips, but it’s been rare. So, when something that is over the top sugary touches my taste buds, I recoil. It’s just not me anymore.
Interestingly, a major revelation came to me this week. In doing some deep heart and soul work that included a process called “life-mapping,” I was able to see how the past has had a greater impact on my life than it should have. (You can read all about it in my book, “Finding God. Finding Me.”)
After a bit of grieving (ok, a lot!) for a few days, I was eventually able to review this information and I’m happy to report that it had no impact on me. It had no power. The past is passed. That was then. This is now. It was amazing! Miraculous really.
“Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:18-19 NKJV)
The Bible continually reminds us not to look back, but rather to forge ahead. Even in the Old Testament book of Isaiah above, God is telling His people to stop looking in the rear view mirror. What’s done is done. It cannot be changed.
In the book of Philippians, the Apostle Paul notes a similar message:
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
The Bible also tells us in Lamentations 3:23 that God’s mercies are new every morning. Each day, we are given a new dose of mercy, love, and grace so that we can face the fiery darts this world throws at us.
Yet notice in the verse above in Philippians that Paul does not credit his own strength, will, or fortitude for being able to press on, but rather that of Jesus. With God, anything is possible. Without Him, nothing is.
Oh sure, we may accomplish a goal or two in our own strength and skill, but at what cost? Exhaustion? Overwhelm? Frustration? This is not God’s way. His calling, His purpose and plan for our lives is meant to be accomplished in partnership with Him, not all by our lonesome.
You may be tempted to think that the days of yesteryear were the good ol’ days. I’m here to tell you that better days are coming. Yet they will only come when we let go of the past. Let go of who you were and rise up to all God is calling you to be.
You may be surprised to find out that you don’t have a sweet tooth after all.