Too Late?

We’ve all had those moments where we know it’s too late to make something right, say something that should have been said earlier, or to undo some twisted logic. You know the feeling. Backtrack quickly. Recover and Restate. Do it right the second time.

There, there, now, pat yourself on the back and applaud your effort for correcting your position!

The reality is that we often know that it’s simply too late to fix that moment.

It’s gone like the proverbial water under the bridge flowing quickly away from this moment in time. We struggle with this lost feeling for days, months and sometimes years. It’s weighted baggage on our psyche. Our memory is sullied. That lost feeling garners momentum like a stone about to pitch down the mountain to some lower altitude.

Come on! We’ve all been there!

What do you do? Is it too late to make it right? As I write this morning some slights I’ve given and received, burble to the surface like ooze from some prehistoric time. Most of it flows away because it matters little whether I’m affected by it or not. Harboring negatives from the past is not my thing.

God gave me a good forgetter!

When you are hurt or guilty of hurting others, when is it too late to make it right? Harboring negatives from the past is not my thing. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Here’s My Thought This Morning

It may have something to do with the politics of the day, but I woke up thinking that we’ve got to get past the past, move forward and allow our forgetter to work. Everyone. Everywhere. Quickly.

How do you do this?

Well, I choose the social words I write, read and follow. Just as I follow the news cycles. I pick the voices that speak in my life, not to ignore the clamoring of others, but to bring focus and peace to my path.

The Apostle Paul said it so famously…

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 3:13-14 NKJV)

But is he an anomaly? Did he have a unique personality that allowed him to be in the position of not worrying about yesterday? I’m not sure I can answer this, but I do believe it’s the process God wanted out of his life. If Paul is writing it, then this is also the process God wants out of our life.

Moses

When Israel left Egypt, and they were just hours into their journey, the Pharoah quickly decided he wanted to handle the problem so he charged after them with his chariots. Suddenly, Israel wished they had left well enough alone and simply yearned to return to their past and live like they were living.

Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”
(Exodus 14:12 NKJV)

But Moses is the challenger to their thoughts.

And Moses said to the people,
“Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”
(Exodus 14:13-14 NKJV)

But God steps into Moses’s life and speaks to him.

And the LORD said to Moses,
“Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.
(Exodus 14:15 NKJV)

See! Even God is seemingly frustrated enough to interject himself into the momentary pause. Forget the past. Reach for the future! Move!!

It’s too late to make things right back there! But it is time to move forward into your future and make things right for there!

How Do We Forget The Past

You may struggle with the feelings of lost opportunity, or those big “what if’s”. The easiest way for me to move forward? Move. Get up and go.

Now. I’m not telling you to change your street address! Rather, it’s that life of constantly living in the past that you need to move from.

How do you do this? You take charge of the moment, shake off the negatives, and step forward. You may think, “No Way! That’s not me! I can’t do it!” The reality is that we all think this way, but only those who become the person they are meant to be step up, step out, move on!

I’ve heard this man speak to a live audience only once, but he spoke volumes to me and countless thousands of others.

Maybe I like him because he was born in “Coffee County“, Alabama!

But his words still come to life years after he passed on. You can find motivation from many of his sayings, but this is one that I like to think is the beginning for every day we live.

So. The power is in your hands and your mind. You can stay where you are, or you can take charge and move on.

Word of Caution

It’s easy to move on, and toss everyone from our past out of our lives. We lump them and our memory of them on the negatives that impacted us so wrongly. So. Zig speaks to this one thought like this:

When someone does something wrong,
don’t forget all the things they did right.
#Remember #Mercy #Ziglar