Seeing Clearly, Looking Back

My last post to my blog entitled, From My Heart To My Mouth, got me to thinking about the value of looking back and reflecting on memories of times now passed. Certainly, as a Christian, I am to live in the present with a hopeful eye towards the future. And I should not try to live in the past or allow the past to hinder me from being everything that I am called to be in the “right here, right now.” Still, within each of our own pasts there are so many valuable lessons to learn that, if remembered, would help us with our present and our future.

For me it is very comforting to look back at my life and see how God has been faithful to see me through every single thing that I have faced in my life. Seeing this, and knowing what the Bible tells me about God, empowers me for the things that lie ahead of me. So I can’t help but feel that memories are meant to help us deal with the “right here, right now.”

Apparently, God felt that it was important also. He so wanted the children of Israel to look back and remember how he moved on their behalf, that when they finally crossed over the Jordan River and entered the Promised Land, He told Joshua to have them build a memorial of twelve stones from the river. He did it so that when their children asked about the stones they could tell them of how God had moved for them, and remember it for themselves all over again (See Joshua, Chapters 3 and 4).

Sometimes, at the time that we are going through trials, we might lose sight of how God is moving on our behalf. We might even feel that He has abandoned us, though He has promised to never leave us (See Hebrews 13:5).

I have found, for me, that the steadfast hand of God at work on my behalf is much easier seen, when I look back at the path I have traveled to get to where I am today. It is then that I can truly see that He was with me all the way.