Trusting God With My Past

 TRUSTING GOD WITH MY PAST

Read Philippians 3.12-14

Because of the effects of the Fall, we will all experience hurt in this world. For some of you, this may have happened early in your life. For others, it might have happened later. There's no doubt, however, that by your teenage years, you've tasted the brokenness of the world and have also contributed to it. Yet, there is good news, Jesus came to earth to die and rise again so that the sins of our past can be forgiven. Therefore, we can rest in God's forgiveness, no matter what our past may hold.

Meet the Apostle Paul

The passage we read today was written by the Apostle Paul, an incredibly important leader in the early Church. Paul served as one of the first Christian missionaries and wrote a large portion of the New Testament. But Paul (also called Saul) wasn't always a follower of Jesus. In fact, the Bible first introduces us to him as a devout Jewish man who wanted to stop the spread of Christianity (Acts 7.58-8.3). He personally persecuted Christians, "breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord" (Acts 9.1).

What changed in Paul's life? He experienced the gospel. Paul had a radical encounter with Jesus (Acts 9.1-22) that led him to spend the rest of his life proclaiming the good news, often to people in far-away places who had never heard it before. But even amid all these great things Paul went on to do for Christ, he still had to live with the reality of what he had done in his past, things he was now ashamed of (Galatians 1.13, 1 Timothy 1.13-16).

Forgetting What Is Behind You

In the passage you read today, however, Paul says he has forgotten "what is behind" and is “reaching forward to what is ahead" (Philippians 3.13). That is certainly easier said than done. Like Paul, our pasts are often full of hurt and regret.

We have all, in one way or another, committed offenses against someone else, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Maybe you've lied or gossiped about someone behind their back or said hurtful things to someone's face. Maybe you've accidentally hurt someone's feelings or left someone out.

But the good news is that there is hope beyond whatever hurt, pain, regret, or guilt your past may hold. You, like the Apostle Paul, can say that you have left that all behind and are reaching ahead for, 

"the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3.14).

Jesus Gives Us Peace About Our Past

The message of Advent is that Jesus has come to make the hurt, regret, and mistakes from our past right, He has come to redeem them. He has come to shine light in the darkness and guide us into peace, as Zechariah sings in Luke 1.79. Jesus brought light to a dark world when He was born two thousand years ago, and Jesus can bring light to your past, no matter how dark and broken it may feel.

Remember Zechariah's experience of doubting God? Yet he moved past his doubt when John was finally born, and he proclaimed his trust in God's plan to send Jesus, who was born to redeem all who place their trust in Him (Luke 1.63-79).

Jesus came to offer His life to pay the price for our sins (Romans 6.23). His resurrection from the dead defeated sin, death, and evil once and for all, assuring us that final redemption is coming when He returns. As a result, we can trust Him with our lives, even with the hurt and regret from our past, knowing that He died and was resurrected to bring redemption to even the darkest parts of our stories.

What Does This Mean for Me?

We hope you have seen, through the story of Jesus's birth, that God has proven His faithfulness time and time again. And He will continue to be faithful to you no matter what your past looks like. You can trust Him!

One way you can practically trust God with your past is through confession (1 John 1.9). This is the practice of admitting your sin. This can be done in private prayer; however, you may also confess your sins aloud to others, either because you personally hurt them or because you need others to come alongside you to help you overcome a particu-

larly challenging sin.

Another way to trust God with your past is repentance. This is closely related to confession, as it is the act of acknowledging your sin and actively turning away from it. This might involve establishing boundaries or asking others to hold you accountable (Galatians 5.16-25).

Finally, you can trust God with your past by accepting Christ's forgiveness (Ephesians 1.7). It can be tempting to wallow in self-pity, guilt, shame, or regret about your past, but trusting God with it means truly letting go of the control and weight of those things. We can experience His healing by surrendering the past to Christ and trusting that His death covers it all (Romans 8.1).

The past does not have to haunt us. Jesus made it possible for our past to be truly redeemed, for us to rest in the peace of His forgiveness.

Application Questions

What elements of your past do you need to leave behind you?

Which of the three ways of practically trusting God with your past comes easiest to you, confession, repentance, or accepting Christ's forgiveness?

Which is the most difficult?

Pray and ask God to help you leave the past behind and walk in His forgiveness and peace.