What's weighing you down? Are there current things or things in your past that are keeping you from moving forward? We all have a past; I wasn't always a pastor ya know. But our problems and/or our past do not determine our future.
First, the past is the past, and there is nothing we can do to change it now. The past does not define or limit who we can be, only who we were. We allow it to define us only when we refuse to let go of it. Letting go of our past is nothing more than that. It is not a surrender to it or any acknowledgement that it is anything more than it was...our past.
Next, are there problems you are currently dealing with that have stopped your forward progress? These can be anything from the loss of a job to an illness in the family. Whatever it is, the mere presence of it has apparently stopped you in your tracks. You feel like if you can just get through it then...then you can what? Then it will all be OK? Wishful thinking, right? Because as soon as you get through one thing there is going to be a next one right around the corner.
This is not the way it is supposed to be. OK, you might be thinking "Great, now tell me to stop worrying...". Hold on a minute, that's not my plan. My plan is to talk about what we can do in "spite" of these situations or conditions...and it all comes down to perspective. Ask yourself this: "When things go wrong do I find myself often times wondering why is this happening to me(us)?". If you do, you are not alone; this is a common response.
If we view life as how it is supposed to be according to what works best for ourselves, then everything that happens is filtered through that "to me" filter. If we step back and consider God's plan, then we can respond to life as direction from a master craftsman. We start to see things as happening "for" us not just "to" us anymore. A hammer can't complain that it is not being used right, just like it can't take credit for the work it helps accomplish. So how do we change our perspective?
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17, 18 NIV)
The real answer is that we don't, He can. When we shift our vision from us to Him then we see things as He sees them. We then can start to be content where we are. After all, unless God is wrong, we are already where we are supposed to be. And what we are in control of is our next choice, not dependent on situations or circumstances, but dependent on Him. It is not where we are that matters, but where we are going...it is the first part of what Jesus taught us how we should pray:
"'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name, your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9,10)
Do you know where you are going? When you do, then everything that happens is for you, as part of God's plan to show people what a relationship with Jesus looks like, and then they might ask you why...and you can tell them.
In His Grip,
Pastor Pat
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