Your past does not need to be dwelt on
One illusion that Satan would have you believe is that your past is something you need to dwell on, that it is right there at your heels, dogging your steps. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I don't want to make light of the past. Especially in the cases where hurts have been done to us, perhaps big hurts during childhood, the emotional scarring is difficult. I'm not saying it isn't difficult, or that it shouldn't be. Yet, dwelling on the past and ruminating on it is not what God wants us to do. Think what better use of that same amount of time it would be if it were put toward worshiping God.
Let's take a look at someone in the Bible who was a man of God and who experienced (through Satan's actions against him), a series of calamities so terrible that I'm sure it caused emotional scarring.
This man was called Job. He was of good character and he happened to be wealthy.
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.
There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.
Job 1: 1-3
Then calamities happened. Satan thought that if Job lost all his possessions, then Job would stop worshiping God. So Satan had Job's children and animals killed. Yet Job still worshiped God. He did not blame God for this. After that, Satan decided to attack Job's health. Job began suffering greatly from a series of very painful ailments.
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.
Job 2: 7-8
Cab you imagine becoming painfully ill immediately after losing all of your family and all of your possessions? It must have been beyond catastrophic. Job's wife even told him to curse God, but Job did not. He continued to worship God, no matter how bad things got. Job's friends came and told him he must have sinned against God somehow and urged him to repent.
Job's suffering was very great, both physically and emotionally. He became very depressed and started regretting his own existence.
After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job said:
As depressed as he was, he continued to worship God and recognize His sovereignty. Job was eventually able to talk with God. God recognized Job's obedience and was angry at his friends for suggesting that God had done these things to Job, when it was in fact Satan.
We can see that the end result is that Job's health and possessions were restored. Although Job's emotions are not described, I am sure he would have been thrilled when this restoration happened.
I don't want to make light of the past. Especially in the cases where hurts have been done to us, perhaps big hurts during childhood, the emotional scarring is difficult. I'm not saying it isn't difficult, or that it shouldn't be. Yet, dwelling on the past and ruminating on it is not what God wants us to do. Think what better use of that same amount of time it would be if it were put toward worshiping God.
Let's take a look at someone in the Bible who was a man of God and who experienced (through Satan's actions against him), a series of calamities so terrible that I'm sure it caused emotional scarring.
This man was called Job. He was of good character and he happened to be wealthy.
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.
There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.
Job 1: 1-3
Then calamities happened. Satan thought that if Job lost all his possessions, then Job would stop worshiping God. So Satan had Job's children and animals killed. Yet Job still worshiped God. He did not blame God for this. After that, Satan decided to attack Job's health. Job began suffering greatly from a series of very painful ailments.
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.
Job 2: 7-8
Cab you imagine becoming painfully ill immediately after losing all of your family and all of your possessions? It must have been beyond catastrophic. Job's wife even told him to curse God, but Job did not. He continued to worship God, no matter how bad things got. Job's friends came and told him he must have sinned against God somehow and urged him to repent.
Job's suffering was very great, both physically and emotionally. He became very depressed and started regretting his own existence.
After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job said:
“Let the day perish on which I was born,
and the night that said,
‘A man is conceived.’
and the night that said,
‘A man is conceived.’
Job 3: 1-3
After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”
And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.
And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He had also seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, four generations. And Job died, an old man, and full of days.
Job 42: 10-17
Job 42: 7-8
God restored Job's fortunes:
And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.
And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He had also seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, four generations. And Job died, an old man, and full of days.
Job 42: 10-17
We can see that the end result is that Job's health and possessions were restored. Although Job's emotions are not described, I am sure he would have been thrilled when this restoration happened.
Yet, Job could have chosen instead to be bitter, saying "why did this past hurt happen to me?" "Poor me, I feel so sorry for all that I had to go through", etc etc. It seems from the Bible section above that he was instead grateful for what was given to him. Of course, Job was human and must surely have mourned his lost relatives. At the same time, Job did not allow his past losses to define him. He continued worshiping God and he was grateful to God for restoring him. Satan was the one who took things away from him, but God gave things back. Job therefore focused on the role of God in his life, and not the role of Satan.
This is something we can all learn from. Most of us have probably not had such a catastrophic series of events happen to us as Job did, but we have all had past hurts done to us. Yet, instead of focusing on those, we can make the active choice (yes it's our own choice! - we're in control of our own thoughts!) to focus on the greatness of God, instead of the meanness of Satan or of those tempted by Satan into hurting us.
Therefore, no matter what has happened to you in the past, it's not something you need to dwell on. It is not at your heels, holding you back. Job is a perfect example of this.
If you found this post interesting, you may also like these related posts on this blog:
- Forgiveness - what it is, and what it isn't
- No-one can strip you of your religion
- Mistaking the real enemy
- Don't worry about other people's relationships with others
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