My last post was about waiting and preparing for what God has promised he will do but there’s a flip side to that which we mustn’t miss.
This weekend, My wife’s family are coming for our bug family Christmas get together. I there’s around thirty of us now, including fourteen kids (one as yet unborn). It’s going to be pretty crazy around here and just the preparation time means I haven’t had much time to blog or tweet.
Looking Back
Last night, I was looking back at my posts from around last Christmas to see if there was something I could re-post to save time. (The post on December 27th 2008 is the all time most viewed post on my blog, by the way).
I didn’t find anything I could re-post directly but I did learn something that really made me stop and think.
Last Christmas, God was talking to me about evangelism and about being intentional in living a life set apart for him.
What I realized when I re-read those posts is that I spent so much time looking ahead to the future this year, so much time reaching for what was to come, that I forgot about what had already come, what I’d heard and learned in the past.
Balancing the Past and Future
Waiting and preparing is good. We need to look to the future, look to what God is calling us to but we also have to keep one eye firmly on the past. We cannot forge ahead, looking for the next new thing, at the expense of the past. God spoke to us, taught us and revealed truth to us not to be forgotten but to be learned, remembered acted upon. We need to learn to maintain a balance between looking forward and recalling the past.
This coming year I want to be more intentional about not forgetting what I have already learned, what I have already seen and experienced.
I hope and pray that at this time next year I don’t look back and realize that once again I forgot to remember the past!
Good thoughts, Peter.
Thanks Bridget, I really appreciate you!
Yesterday already is gone. You cannot control what's to come. What that leaves is today, the now, the present. Knowing how to be "intentional" in that is something too few learn or for which need is understood until too late. Often only those who have experienced significant loss recognize this. It, too, is worth considering.
Thank you for adding your wisdom, Maureen!
i agree in looking back without dwelling there. it is good to remember all of the things that God has revealed to us. how many times God has been with us. to be grateful for the things that God has allowed us to learn.
good thoughts, peter
ps…what is a bug family?
Thanks, nAncY.
A bug family is a mis-type which I'm not going to correct because some of them are bugs too!
Great word Peter. I agree that balance is essential, taking note of the past and the present that we walk in while anticipating the future He has planned for us.
Exactly!
Thank you for taking the time to comment. I very much appreciate it.
And you know what? Having a blog means that we've been taking notes, so we can look back and most easily sift what needs remembering right now. 🙂
If we take the time to look back.
IF.
🙂
challenging thoughts Peter. Thanks
You're welcome, Gary.
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Merry Christmas.
Our past is what shapes us, and good or bad, it will always be a part of us. We can choose to dwell in it, or use it as a springboard to bigger and better things that God has planned for us. And as we're "looking forward and recalling the past." don't forget to enjoy today! Love your perspective, Peter. Your balance is most enviable.
I wish I had a good balance. Unfortunately, I don't most of the time!
YOU HAVE A BUG FAMILY?! What kind? Ladybugs and butterflies, I hope. If it's cockroaches and locusts, I'm out.
One of them reads this blog so I'm not going to dare say cockroaches and locusts….
They're all pretty butterflies and ladybugs 🙂
Great message, Peter! This fits in perfectly with my post for Wednesday, on "Testimony." The past builds faith for the present and hope for the future. GOTTA remember the past.