Sometimes we have a tendency to look back on things we’ve done or haven’t done. We can often think about those things and wonder what we could have done differently. The reality is we sometimes make mistakes. We often feel like we want to go back and have a do-over. At least, I can.
So, here’s my advice for anyone who has any past regrets. First, find a crazy wild-eyed doctor (oh, let’s say someone who looks like Christopher Lloyd). Then find a car (let’s say something like a DeLorean). Have him locate some plutonium for you, and then make the car into a time machine. Then get in the car and go back and undo all of your past mistakes. What’s that, you say? That’s not possible? Oh, exaaaactly! Glad you see my point. That was my ‘Back to the Future’ reference for the day. But as much as we would like to go back and change the past, time just doesn’t work that way. I’m pretty sure Einstein settled that.
Have you ever tried to iron a shirt? I haven’t very often. But even with my limited experience I know how it generally works. I end up getting out most of the wrinkles. However, I usually end up making some new wrinkles of my own. The crazy thing is that when you make your own wrinkle with the iron, those are the hardest ones to get out. No matter how hard I try, that wrinkle just seems to stay there. I can maybe make it better but I can’t completely erase it. I’m better off just to keep going and wear the shirt as is. Probably the way to get that wrinkle out is to just wash it again. For the purposes of this analogy let’s just say that correlates to going back in time. Since that’s not possible, we know that some wrinkles will always be in our shirts.
You probably know where I’m going with this. If that shirt represents our lives, then we know that we’re going to have some things (wrinkles) that we can’t go back and undo. We might be able to make them a little better. For instance, if we’ve offended someone we may have to go back to that person and apologize. But this doesn’t completely undo the offense, does it? I mean, it still happened. I can’t go back and change it. So, I guess the best I can do is move forward with what I have. That’s just the way life works. I need to accept my shirt as is, wrinkles and all. That shirt may not be perfect, but it’s my shirt. That’s the only shirt I’m going to get. I can’t take the shirt back and exchange it for a new one. I’ve already worn the shirt and I didn’t keep the receipt. Ok, that’s probably enough shirt references for today. I think I’ve beat the shirt metaphor to death. I’ll move on now.
Here are two good verses about not looking to the past in Philippians. Philippians 3:13-14 says, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Paul is acknowledging here that he still hasn’t arrived at his eternal destination. He finds one thing to be important to fulfilling what God has for him to do. Paul was human just like the rest of us. He certainly had regrets like us. He knew, though, the futility of going back and changing any of the things he regrets. I think he knew that, for good or for bad, he couldn’t spend his time looking back at the past. He also knew his purpose could only truly be accomplished if he looked forward to his goal and the work God had set before him.
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I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Hindsight is 20/20.” This can be true sometimes. But one of the interesting things I’ve found in life is that sometimes, even after the fact, I’m still not sure what the right answer would have been. Even though I may not have liked the outcome, the correct answer still eludes me. So, I guess maybe that saying doesn’t always hold true. That’s probably another reason why looking back can be so unproductive. We don’t see the entire picture here in this life.
Here’s a comforting verse for us as believers. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.” I guess this helps me to know this. While I’m not intentionally trying to mess things up, I can know and rest in the fact that God has my life in the palm of his hand. God somehow works through the circumstances, and sometimes the mess, of our lives and is able to make something beautiful out of it. Many of the things we messed up in our lives are learning experiences for us. We learn how to be prudent and unwavering. Some things are only learned through experience. That’s why some of our older generation can many times offer us some good advice. They’ve often been through a lot of the same things.
So, yes we can learn from our past. But this idea of looking back and dwelling on the past is not only unfruitful, but also destructive. Sometimes we need to just move forward and accept some of those wrinkles we’ve made.
Philippians 3:13-14 says, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.”