It started about a week ago, as I reflected on some significant milestones. Ten years ago this month Beck and I started working on what would become Promontory Community Church in Chilliwack, Canada (www.mypcc.ca - check it out). And January will mark five years since we left Promontory to try new challenges. Both were highly emotional times, marked with stretching highs and cavernous lows, yet completely worthwhile and, hopefully, all to the glory of God.
But the revelation struck me last week as I met with a couple seeking some marital spiritual direction (what I do really can't be called counselling). I noticed that one or both parties seemed to be dreamily lost in the past. They were spending their days looking over their shoulder at an idealized rendition of the past, and I realized in doing so they were missing out on the best of both the present and the future.
And here's my "aha moment": it's a bridge. A what? A bridge, life is a bridge. In youth, there's nothing but a long stretch of future, but further on, there's a lot to look back on. Right now, I'm somewhere out in the middle.
When we lived in BC we would occasionally visit the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge in Vancouver. Stepping on the bridge is fun and scenic and all things wonderful. But if fear of heights is an issue, or the swinging sensation of a suspension bridge is a problem, somewhere in the middle a person might look back and say, "I'm not so sure about this."
It's obvious to say that everyone has a past. Some spend their lives trying to forget it, while others try to hold on to it, depending if it was painful or beautiful. That's obvious. But I've also seen friends cling to a painful past because they fear the future, or because they simply cannot imagine a future any better than the glorious past. Either way, it is at best aimless, and at worst, hopeless.
The backward look only lets a person see what they've already seen, and that from an unrealistic perspective. They fail to embrace the present or anticipate the future, missing the best of what God has today. It's not a bad thing to glance back to check progress, but we can't stay there. And standing still is not given as an option. Time only goes one direction.
The Apostle Paul understood the need to look forward. He had a past that some applauded, but it was an embarrassment to him. Maybe that's why he wrote in Philippians 3, "Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." And to the Colossians he wrote, "Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth" (Colossians 3:2). The writer of Hebrews said that Jesus endured the cross "for the joy set before him" (Hebrews 12:2). All forward-facing.
So if life really can be compared to a bridge, I don't want to spend my life looking at where I've been, only to be surprised by the destination ahead. And I don't believe God wants us to set up a permanent home on Memory Lane. It was God, after all, who promised his people "a hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).
There is tension, is there not, between honoring what's been good, even while gazing ahead? How does one decide what to preserve, and what to release?
It strikes me that one should carry forward whatever helps to move boldly on into the future God has. Past relationships that have honored God and nurtured your walk with Him? Save those. But past memories and connections that leave you unaware of - or worse, dissatisfied with - the present, can only give you a backward-looking crick in your neck? Time to re-think what you do with those.So that's my "aha" moment. I'm asking myself, "In which direction am I looking?" Because my bridge-walk is one with purpose, and I don't want to miss out what God may have for me today or in the days ahead.
No comments:
Post a Comment