Cast Your Past

I'm going to be honest and say I've really been struggling lately. God is opening doors and shutting other ones. I'm in that pruning stage, where God cuts away things in your life that pull you away from Him; things, people, and places that will eventually lead you other ways and into hurt and pain. While it's hard to let go of a lot of those things, I try to stay reassured by God's promises, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."* I know these things are being pulled away and I'm being stripped down bit by bit for a reason, to prepare me for where He's taking me, but it's still hard to let go. God really spoke to me last week through this idea: 

What's in the past is in the past. It's what you do with your past that determines your future. 

It's an easy concept right?  Easier said than done. I have trouble letting go things of my past sometimes. People that meant a lot to me at one time, dreams I once had, and things I loved to do. But there are also the things in my past that I want to get as far away from as possible that still come up in my thoughts. I've gotten a lot better at not dwelling on the past, the what ifs and the if onlys, but occasionally they come sneaking up on me again. While the concept's an easy one that I've heard so many times, I never really took the time to fully understand it. You can't change the past, so why dwell on it. You can ruin your future with wasting your time thinking about if you did something different or if you only did this or not did that. It's done, it's over with, we have to move on. The only thing you can change is how it will affect you and your future. Don't focus on what you could have been, focus on who God is preparing you to be! He is so much bigger than anything in your past, no matter how big or small. He is so much bigger that your past addictions, group of friends, ideas, or actions! He conquered the grave! I'm sure He can conquer even the biggest troubles of your past, the things you can't even bare to touch. Entrust it all to Him and be reassured in His promises that He will give you rest and carry all your burdens, old or new. Cast your burdens on Him, cast your past on Him, and He will lead you home.


*Jeremiah 29:11