Let Go The Past; Reach Forth To Tomorrow!

By Wesley L. Duewel

    It is time to forget many things (Phil. 3:13-15). There are things you have remembered too long and too well. It is always the right time to forget many things if you are to make spiritual progress, but it is particularly important to make the beginning of a new period of your life a time to forget some things forever. A new day of faith and power will begin for you when you learn to forget those things. What things? The things the Holy Spirit will place His finger on just now if you ask Him to.

    You may be too conscious of your own insufficiency. You may know that you are not adequate for the task before you. You know how many things have appeared to be too difficult for you. You may have felt overwhelmed by them. You may be tortured at times by your own inability to do all that is expected of you.

    You may be so conscious of your own weakness, your inabilities, and your past failure that it is almost impossible to have the faith you need for your task. Your mind has often been filled with doubt. You have worried. But God knew all about this when He called you. God has brought you to the place you are today because He has a perfect plan for you and He wants to carry out His purpose for you.

    Now – forget your weakness and your inabilities. Forget your failures. Leave them all with God. He knew all about you when He chose you for His purpose. He wants to supply what you lack. Forget those things that have caused you to worry. They are robbing you of your peace and trust. They are robbing you of your joy.

    Look to God. He wants to do His miracle in your tomorrow. He cannot work through you when you rely on your own strength. But in your weakness He can show His power. Out of your inabilities He can work His miracles. Trust God and give Him all the glory.

    You have also remembered the failures of some of your friends for too long. You have remembered some of their actions because they hurt you. It seemed to you that these actions were deliberately done. How could your friends be so inconsiderate? Why? Why...? Yes, you have been remembering them too often and too long already. Forget those things.

    These hurts have filled your life with tension and strain. They have weighted you down with a load you should not have to bear. Satan has reminded you of them again and again. Of course, you do not understand them. But can you not commit them into God’s hands? Can you not cast all your anxiety on Him since He cares so much for you? (1 Pet. 5:7). You do not need to fight your own battles. You will become miserable trying to fight them, and the more you think of them, the more alone you will feel.

    Forget the failures of others if you want them to forget yours. One by one you will have gathered more complaints and more proofs that your opinions about them were right. Already this has robbed you and your friends of the unity of the Spirit. Already it has hindered your prayer life. Already bitterness has begun to enter in. Your list is so long that it almost seems that you expect to be the judge on the Judgment Day!

    Why bring all the past failures of others into your life now and make it impossible for God to greatly bless and use you? Why endanger God’s plan for your life by holding on to all the bitter memories of the past? Bring them to the Cross just now. Tell God all about them. Remember, you have failures too that you want others to forgive and forget.

    Weep out your heart before God and truly confess to Him your own failures. Do not allow one past failure – of others or your own – to embitter your future. Bring them all to the Cross. Cover them with the precious blood of Christ. Bury them at the Cross and forget them forever.

A New Day for You

    When you forget those things, a new day will come into your life. You will really be new; your Christian experience will become new. You will have new faith and you will see new miracles as you put all of the past into the Lord’s hands. You will have new strength as the Holy Spirit indwells your life in a new way. Those things that you have held on to for so long have been shutting out the fullness of His presence and His ministry. You cannot afford to go on that way any longer.

    Do you want to reach forth to all those things that are ahead? (Phil. 3:13). Would you like to claim all the promises God is so longing to fulfill for you? Would you like to experience God’s presence and power so that your whole life will be transformed? You can do it only as you choose to forget those things that are behind – the things the Holy Spirit has been reminding you of just now. They have been hidden in your heart too long already. Flee to the Cross and leave them there. The Holy Spirit can work so deeply in your life that you will really forget them.

    The price is not too great. Your tomorrows can be the most wonderful days of your life if you will just let go of your past. Commit it all to God.

    – Quoted from the book God’s Power Is For You by Wesley L. Duewel. Copyright 1997. Used by permission of the Duewel Literature Trust, Inc., Greenwood, Indiana. Dr. Duewel’s books may be purchased by calling (317) 881 6751, Ext. 361.