Emotional paralysis results when we are unable to function today because we are either tied up in the past or preoccupied with the future. We cannot relive the past nor can we make up for our mistakes by continually reliving them in our minds. When necessary, forgiveness should be sought with great vigor. But, there comes a time when we must move on and make the most of the present.
The apostle Paul had formerly lived in hostility toward the way of Christ. He was a man obsessed with destroying the church. He confessed that he was “formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor…” (1 Tim. 1:13). How did Paul deal with the dark clouds that overshadowed his past? He said, “forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Ph. 3:13-14). It matters not so much where we have been as where we are going. We cannot change the past, but we can set the course for our future by choosing how we live today.
While some need to move forward out of the past, others need to take a step back out of the future. It is as paralyzing to occupy today with worries of tomorrow as it is to be buried in the past. In a world filled with anxiety, how can we avoid needless worry? Paul wrote, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Ph. 4:6–7). Remember the formula: “prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.”
Because God cares, there is no past so dark or future so bleak but what our present cannot be filled with the light of hope and confidence of faith. “This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps. 18:24).
— Glen Elliott —