Some people are haunted by ghosts...no, not the kind that you may be thinking of...who float through the air, and say "Boo!" But ghosts, nonetheless.
One night, as I sat and started thinking the thoughts that were popping into my mind, I started thinking of the past. Memories of things, people, places, and events that have long since passed. Then I found myself reliving and regretting some of the events that had happened, and the thoughts of them brought back feelings of sadness, anger, and helplessness that had once been so real when these things happened.
As I sat there, lost in my emotions and thoughts...words came to me. No, not an audible voice...but the words rang through my spirit.
"Don't bring back the ghosts of the past, for they are gone and you cannot change what has happened. Think on today."
I knew, without a doubt that it was the Lord.
I was living in the past, feeling and experiencing things that had long passed away, and that I could do nothing about now...other than to leave them with the Lord.
The Lord does not want us to dwell on our mistakes of the past, or the events that have gone before...things that make us sad, angry, hurt, frustrated, embarrassed, or feeling helpless. Sweet memories may be comforting, but to relive the bad experiences of the past is to go around in circles...there is no ending because they cannot be changed.
Today is all that we have. We have no promise of tomorrow, and the past is gone.
The ghosts of the past are but apparitions, with no real substance. Let them go...
"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14
until He comes...
