Put Failures To Rest
(Devotional by
Helen Grace Lescheid:
June 2004)
(4 Minutes)
Past
experiences, not
properly dealt with, can haunt us for the rest of
our lives. Yet, it is possible to be free of past failures and
unresolved guilt if we will but act upon Paul's advice, "..I'm
focussing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and
looking forward to what lies ahead" (Phil. 3:13 NLT).
Paul
knew what he was
talking about. He had dragged Christian men and women off to prison and
commanded Stephen to be stoned. Although he saw himself as the worst of
sinners, in Christ he found a redemptive quality in his past (1.
Timothy 1:15-18) We can
too.
Forgetting the Past.
Is
it possible
to erase all
memories of what happened? No! Paul never forgot past activities that
he was now ashamed of. Yet the past did not have
a hold on
him.
He did not cling to it in senseless rehashing. Why? He had released the
past to God. How can we
do that?
1. Face up to your past
wrongs and
let Christ forgive you and clear you of all guilt.
It is
not God's will that
we be
reminded of past sins that we have confessed to Him. Satan would want
us to wallow in remorse, but God lets us know that, "If we confess our
sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us
from every wrong" (1. John 1:9 NLT).
Forgiveness
is immediate upon a
contrite confession. At one time I thought that one had to suffer
awhile to show how sorry one was, or to learn a lesson not to
do it
again before God would forgive sin. Then it dawned on me what Christ
meant when He cried from the cross: "It is finished!"
The suffering for sin. Finished! The atoning for sin.
Finished!
The guilt of sin. Finished!
Christ's
sacrifice on the cross
paid the entire debt. Now God has written "cancelled," over our record
of sins. Paul embraced this fact with joy. "The grace of our Lord was
poured out on me," he exults in (1. Tim. 1:14 NIV). Likewise
we
must accept Christ's gracious offer of forgiveness and begin to think
and act like forgiven people.
To
get a handle on God's
forgiveness for myself, I have copied verses from the Bible that speak
to me of God's love and forgiveness. I carry these small cards in my
purse of
pocket, so I can recite them often. When echoes of past
failures foll in, I repeat God's words of forgiveness until my mind can
accept God's truth and begin to be at peace again.
2. Forgive yourself.
Being
imperfect we sometimes fail.
That's the nature of being human. Paul had learned to look at himself
and his past with understanding. "Even though I was once a blasphemer
and a persecutor and a violent man," he writes, "I was shown mercy
because I acted in ignorance and unbelief" (1. Tim. 1:13 NIV).
Looking forward to what
lies ahead.
Instead
of hanging onto
energy-sapping remorse, Paul used past failures as a powerful motivator
to work for God in the present. "I strain to reach the end of the race
and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling
us up to heaven" (Phil. 3:14 NLB).
Paul
focussed on God's grace
and forgiveness, not on his own failures. In fact, Paul saw his
failures as something God could use. "God had mercy on me, so that
Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of His great
patience with even the worst of sinners" (1. Tim. 1:16 NLT).
God
is bigger than our failures. When we give our failures to Him, He will
weave them into His perfect plan for our lives.
After
Chuck Colson's release from
prison, he founded Prison Fellowship, an international ministry to
prisoners in many countries of the world. "God used my greatest failure
to bring about his greatest good," he writes. In my own life
also, God has used failures, my own and others, to bring about his good
purpose.
Although we can't undo past failures,
we can let go of guilt and remorse. We can turn our failures over to
God and watch him make something beautiful out of them. The choice is
ours.
If you
have any spiritual
inquiries or if we can be of assistance in upholding a need in
prayer, please know that your concerns are most welcome (without any
solicitations) at: info@biblesforthepoor.org
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Past
experiences, not
properly dealt with, can haunt us for the rest of
our lives. Yet, it is possible to be free of past failures and
unresolved guilt if we will but act upon Paul's advice, "..I'm
focussing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and
looking forward to what lies ahead" (Phil. 3:13 NLT).
have
a hold on
him.
He did not cling to it in senseless rehashing. Why? He had released the
past to God. How can we
do that?
