INTRODUCTION

Tis’ the season for celebration, being busy, and for reflection. The year of 2020 offers much to reflect upon. Whew!

Time Travel is not just for science-fiction movies. It’s a current hot topic of theoretical physics and more. In fact, each of us has our own time machine (our awareness of the present, memories of the past and dreams of the future).

Think about it: the smell of cinnamon and apples baking in a pie, right this minute –can whisk you away, back to a warm kitchen of yesteryear. Our wishes for tomorrow may be projected tonight, on shooting stars.

PROBLEM

It’s important for us to be able to focus on the here-and-now. We can’t change one thing from the past: a word said — or left un-spoken; what we have done –- or left undone.

Emily Dickinson once said, “Forever is composed of nows.”

She’s right. Our power to affect change exists only in the present. But, we do need to value yesterday, as we ponder tomorrow.

SOLUTION:

Leave yesterday’s buried garbage alone, but keep the lessons learned in a journal of survival and success. Note your prayer requests – and the answers, as they become clear.

In the next moment of feeling … “I can’t do this”, we can remind ourselves that, by the grace of God, we did do ‘it’, or something equally difficult, in the past. We can dust off our evidence of past success, and truthfully say … “ I made it through _______ … so I know can survive this.”

Answered prayers of the past remind us that there is no limit on what God can do now and in the future.

DIVINE DIVIDENDS:

The benefits of this kind of remembering are so powerful that God himself told us to do it. In old-testament times, the people set up stones for memorials of important events they had survived or accomplished, by the grace of God.

These memorials were built to honor God. They also encouraged and strengthened the people.

NO CONTRADICTION:

God instructed us to learn from the past, and to use memories for encouragement, to ponder wisdom, and to practice gratitude.

The apostle Paul advised us to forget what has gone before and press on toward the mark of the higher calling in Christ – reaching for what lies ahead (Philippians. 3:12-14).

This is not a contradiction. BOTH are right in context.

We don’t want to get ‘stuck’ in the past, looking back with either longing or regret. But, as we move ahead we can take our lessons and our gratitude with us.

God used the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet to describe Himself.

In Revelation 1:8 He said:

             “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord,           “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

He can move with us through our past, our present, and on into our futures. In Hebrews 13:8 we are assured: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

CONCLUSION

When reviewing past triumphs and disasters – look for patterns of blessing that helped us survive and find some joy.

Use a journal to collect this evidence of love and success. It will pay big dividends.

Be encouraged! Our street-level view of a big Parade may seem colorful and exciting — or crowded, hectic and noisy. As the bands play and march on by, we can’t always see the entire route or destination of the journey. But God has an ‘eternity-eye’ view of the whole extravaganza – from start to finish. He sees every step we each have before us.

We can trust, celebrate, and let anxieties go as we remember one more promise about time …  “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

Blessings, Love, and Laughter,

Margaret

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