Have you ever stopped in a room wondering,
Why am I here?
What am I forgetting?
Or, even worse, “Was I coming in or going out?”
We often attribute these symptoms and questions to aging, but these can happen to any of us…any age…any time!
As you ponder the questions, searching for an answer, you may even retrace your steps (if you remember them) and go right back into the room again – hoping that something will trigger your mind to remember why you are there.
This happened to me a few days ago. As I stepped away from my computer, I went into the other room and simply stood there thinking, What? Huh? Was there a reason I came in here? I went through the “re-trace” steps several times and never remembered – until too much later to do anything about what I had planned on accomplishing with my little jaunt!
This got me to thinking about the questions we all ask at times like this.
We ask ourselves, “Why am I here?” and no amount of retracing or future casting will give us a hint of an answer. We sort of drift with the tide, rushing to the shore and slowly ebbing back into the ocean. Occasionally we get trapped by a rip current where we are going against the flow of direction we think we should be going – and we quickly tire as we fight against the current to no avail!
Think about it! We struggle with our career – and often need a coach or mentor who looks over our shoulder and from their perspective they help point us into a better direction.
We struggle with our marriages – and often ignore counseling because we think we can handle it all, or because we feel like there’s simply no use in repairing the breach.
We struggle with our finances – when the help and answers are often right before us but we fail to make the hard choices to improve our situation.
Kids, family, neighbors, job, clutter, landscaping, driving… All are areas of struggles and if we would simply search for help we could make things better. Is this not why we send politicians into office??? Make things better!
Have you ever been trapped between two extremes, say, the past where your once were, and the pain of a new direction, and find you are not even comfortable with any of the options! The past is like a weight pulling us backward, yet the future is like a siren call drawing or forcing us in another direction, and we fight… (From a recent thought… Who are we fighting?)
National interests, regional governments, local cities, and towns are each struggling with the past, and pressing to the uncertain future, just like you and I.
Here’s my thought today. Israel struggled like this often. They would be caught between the past and the future and floundering in their present situation. God would direct them to a new future, and probably because it was new and uncertain, they would cry out for their past.
The pain of moving forward caused them to desire the past.
And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
(Exodus 16:1-3 NKJV)
We hear a cry of anguish from many who bemoan their current status of life and yearn either for a far off future paradise or their imperfect past where at least they knew all the answers.
Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years after leaving Egypt, and then as they were entering their “promised land”, the same thing happened again (Joshua 7:7)…Only this time the past they yearned for was the wilderness from their earlier cry of anguish – not Egypt, but the wilderness. It’s almost like they were crying for their immediate past, and not too far back… just the previous generation.
As Israel leaves the wilderness, they cross the Jordan River, and God commands that a particular person from each tribe remove a stone from the river to build a “monument” for a reason to the question of “What” and “Why”…
And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’; for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”
(Joshua 4:20-24 NKJV)
Notice with me. It’s a generational thing. The “why” is reflective to what happened before me in a previous generation, but also to a longer view of even further back. God did something at the Jordan that was equally as impressive at the Red Sea! Why? So everyone will know God’s on your side!
But notice… Their yearning for the past happened after the miracle of the Jordan! (Joshua 4 vs Joshua 7). We see this happen time and again with each generation. There is a yearning for the comfort of the past.
But it is the past. We are in the present. Headed for the future.
We can never return to what it was like 100 years ago, nor do we have a clue about life 100 years from now. We live where we are, deal with what comes our way now, and keep our attention pointed in the future direction.
We can never return to what it was like 100 years ago, nor do we have a clue about life 100 years from now. We live where we are, deal with what comes our way now, and keep our attention pointed in the future direction. Share on XThis does not mean our values change. Nor does it mean God’s word is outdated. Remember. He never changes! (Malachi 3:6) What David says in his Psalms is just as powerful and important today. Remember? His word was hidden in David’s heart, to keep him from sinning! (Psalms 119:11)
If something as old as the ancient scriptures were applicable then, well, they are equally applicable today.
How does the Bible deal with this concept for us today?
I call it, “Living Forward“. Just as we learn from History, and build upon the knowledge of the past, the principals of those bygone years are still the foundation for all of us today.
Here are some directive scriptures you should memorize, rehearse, live, and teach forward as the future arrives. (You can download this list below.)
Daily Transformation: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1-2 NKJV)
Constant Dependence: Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones. (Proverbs 3:5-8 NKJV)
Faithful Living: Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: ” The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:5-8 NKJV)
Do Not Love This World: Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15-17 NKJV)
Keep Pushing Toward Christ: Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14 NKJV)
Love Inward and Outward: Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40 NKJV)
My thoughts and blessings are for you to live constantly forward, even with this rapidly changing world, but keep God in your heart and life daily. Not as a Nagging Memory, but as a Real and Live thought that keeps you growing forward.