We all have a past, some of us a painful one, full of experiences that we wish we could have avoided. Some of them may have been from our own choices we made, some of them from choices we had made for us.
Either way, we all have a past, some traumas, large or small to deal with. How we approach them, deal with them and ultimately face them can determine our future. Are we going to be a victim or an overcomer?
I believe we can accept our past, deal with it, sometimes multiple times, but still come out of it and achieve our goals and dreams in spite of our pasts.
We all have choices to make. Often I hear people explaining the actions of another person by giving the reason that they had a really hard childhood, or someone hurt them very badly in the past. I am sure that is true. There are some really awful, awful things that happen to people in this life.
However, when we use that for a reason as to why we are making our own poor choices, that is just an excuse.
If Allan chooses to hit a man on the street in the face, because when he was a child that was how his dad dealt with his anger and he never quite got over it, that is horrific, but not an excuse for Allan to use that method of dealing with his anger. His anger is his own responsibility, not his father’s. His father has his own actions to account for, but we are accountable for our actions and choices.
We can make the choice today to not repeat the past and we can let our past, determine our future in the way that we will let us propel us to better goals.
I’m so thankful that we have a redeemer, who not only redeemed us but is able to redeem our past (even our mistakes) by using what is meant for harm for good. I’m not saying that the painful past is good or that we don’t suffer the consequences of our own sin and the sin of others, but we are able to comfort others and be comforted (and see a part of God that we may not have seen before) as we live with and cope with the past because greater is He that is in us.
So very true! What seems really hard often makes me thankful that I have been through it for one reason or another to be able to understand what someone else has gone through.