Getting Past Your Past
Have you ever felt like your past is holding you back? As if matter how hard you try to move forward, there is an invisible force pulling you down? You're not alone. Many of us struggle with the weight of our history, finding it challenging to break free and reach new heights in our lives.
The concept of escape velocity from physics provides a powerful metaphor for this struggle. Just as a spacecraft needs tremendous force to break free from Earth's gravitational pull, we too need significant momentum to overcome the gravitational pull of our past.
Our background exerts a constant force on us, trying to keep us where we are. Every time we attempt to elevate ourselves - financially, spiritually, vocationally, or relationally - the pull of our past tries to anchor us in place. It's a challenge to get past your past, but it's a challenge worth facing.
This gravitational force manifests in two primary ways: internal guilt and external judgment. Internally, we carry the weight of our failures, mistakes, and sins. It's like dragging a heavy burden everywhere we go, making each step forward exhausting. As Shakespeare's Macbeth pondered, "Can thou pluck a rooted sorrow from the heart?" This internal struggle can be paralyzing, leaving us feeling trapped in a cycle of guilt and shame.
Externally, we face the judgment of others who knew us in previous seasons of our lives. They may try to handcuff us to who we used to be, refusing to acknowledge our growth or change. Remember the story of Saul (later known as Paul) in the Bible? When God called Ananias to minister to the newly converted Saul, Ananias hesitated, remembering Saul's violent past as a persecutor of Christians. How often do we, like Ananias, struggle to believe that people can truly change?
The challenge of overcoming our past is compounded by three factors:
Our past isn't pretty. We all have chapters in our lives we'd rather not revisit. If someone were to do a thorough background check on any of us, we'd likely find some information that we're not proud of.
Our past is possessive. It doesn't want to let us go easily. Like Michael Corleone in The Godfather III lamented, "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in." Our old habits, sins, and mistakes cling to us, asking, "Do you think we're going to let you go?"
Our past wants to penalize us. It tries to convince us that we're disqualified from certain blessings because of our history. The enemy uses our past to make us believe we're unworthy of the future God has planned for us.
But here's the good news: God has a plan not just for your future, but also for your past. In Jeremiah 29:11, we're reminded, "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." God's plan for your future is brighter than your past, but unless He also deals with your past, the enemy will use it to derail your future.
The story of the Israelites' exodus from Egypt provides a powerful illustration of how God deals with our past. After 400 years of slavery of Egypt, God sends Moses to announce his intention to release his children from captivity. When the announcement is made, the captives are cautiously optimistic. But the captor is spectacularly resistant. Consequently, God has to work on both the captives and the captor to execute his agenda. After God unleashes a series of devastating plagues, the Egyptians finally relent and release God’s people. But soon afterwards, they changed their minds. According to Exodus 14:9-14, this is what happened:
The Egyptians chased after them with all the forces in Pharaoh’s army—all his horses and chariots, his charioteers, and his troops. The Egyptians caught up with the people of Israel as they were camped beside the shore near Pi-hahiroth, across from Baal-zephon. As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, 11and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’” But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”
Egypt represents our past - always pursuing us, trying to prevent us from reaching our promised land. But this passage teaches us that God always fights for the future of his children! God will intervene for us today in the same way that he intervened for his children then. Specifically, God will intervene in three ways:
God will run interference. Just as God moved from leading the Israelites to standing between them and the pursuing Egyptians, He stands between us and our past, blocking what's trying to hold us back.
God will disable the pursuit. God took the wheels off the Egyptian chariots, and He has a way of taking apart whatever is trying to catch up to us and drag us down.
God will drown the past. Ultimately, God used the Red Sea to drown the Egyptian army. In the same way, He promises to deal decisively with everything in our past that threatens our future.
So here’s today’s takeaway: go forward. Stop worrying about what's chasing you. If you focus on chasing after God’s purpose and plan for your life, God will chase what is chasing you!