The Lord impressed upon me to tell His people in this time and season: "Don't look back. Don't linger or live in the past. Be set free from your past, and learn to embrace your future!"
You know, things that could have been, or things that should have been. Good memories, or not-so-good memories. Achievements, or failures. This is the time to let go and be set free!
Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong in learning from past mistakes (or failures). There's nothing wrong in cherishing good memories from the past, or even keeping old photo albums! But what the Lord wants His people to know in this time and season is don't linger in the past!
By the way, the definition of this word 'linger' is 'to stay in something longer than necessary because of reluctance to leave', or 'to take longer than necessary to leave and move on'.
My observation is that some countries that still 'bask' in past glory and not look ahead, these countries tend to be left behind. But countries that tend to advance fast are those that put their past behind them, and keep learning and innovating. The same it is with a community of people, or individuals!
I’ve seen some greatly talented people kill their careers or future by lingering in the past - and they didn’t even know they were doing it! Are you (unconsciously) clinging to some past glory or failure? The good news today is the Lord is helping you to let go!
Let us not be like Lot's wife who was hesitant to let go, and she kept looking back. In that moment of hesitation, destruction caught up with her and she became a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26). By lingering and looking back, Lot’s wife was doused with salt, just as those people in Sodom and Gomorrah suffered brimstone and fire. In other words, when you look back, you are pulled back!
Don't get me wrong. I’m not talking about denying your past. But I’m talking about not letting the past hold you down, hold you back, or even hold you hostage!
In Philippians 3:12-14 (NKJV), the apostle Paul wrote, 'Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus'.
You see, the antidote for 'lingering in the past' is to stay focused on what's ahead!
Don't be afraid to face the future, but instead, embrace your future! Yes, even if at the moment, you have no inkling what lies ahead in your future! But the good news is the Lord knows, and He has amazing things for you in the future!
This is the time to declare that your future is going to be greater, in spite of whatever that happens in the world around you at the moment. In Jesus' name. Amen!
