20/20 Hindsight

At times, memories can be troublesome when a person wishes that certain things would have turned out differently.  It’s called 20/20 hindsight.

When looking into a rearview mirror, the driver of a vehicle cannot see everything there is to see behind them, so they must drive cautiously and with care.  We don’t go through life looking in a rearview mirror to see where we’ve been.

Have you ever considered that perhaps things that happened in your past happened for a reason?  Maybe those moments of maturing had to take place because it was God’s plan for you.  I believe God has a wonderful plan for each of us.

How many times have you said, “If I had it to do over again.”?  I have either said it or thought it many times.  Perhaps you are like me in some ways, most critical of ourselves when it comes to doing our best in getting things right the first time to sidestep having regrets later.

People that know me would, no doubt, say that I am very analytical and some would call me picky.  The above perceptions are true.  I try to stay away from bad decisions that affect me negatively later when I relive those bad choices.

Please hear this, things that have happened in the past are just that, past happenings that need to be left there rather than allowing them to beat us up when we remember all the negatives.  If we dwell on them, they can produce anxiety, which can cause ulcers and steal the joy we have in the present.  It is counterproductive to live with and recall past mistakes.

God has a plan for you.  Are you living for Him today and allowing Him to fulfill His plan in your life, or are you walking in the opposite direction and living with 20/20 hindsight regrets?  Who knows the reason why certain things took place in the past.

I don’t have all the answers, but God does.  Can anyone say, for certain, that because of 20/20 hindsight, things shouldn’t have gone the way they did?  I can’t, I’m not God. 

Was it someway in God’s long-range plan that certain things happened to bring a person to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ?  Again, I don’t know, but as a Christian, walking by faith, I believe that God loves each of us very deeply.  I trust that He has everything in control and can bring about good out of things that we perceive as bad.

(Genesis 50:20), “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” 

The above scripture is referring to a man named Joseph.  Look at Joseph, a man of God, and how everything seemed to go against him in his earlier life, but God was with him and had the perfect plan for him and the saving of his family from starvation. 

God made Joseph second in command, under Pharaoh.  He was the saving grace to the survival of his family and all of Egypt when a great famine came to the land.  This wonderful story begins in (Genesis 37) regarding Joseph and the hand of God upon all that he accomplished, because God was with him.

Looking into a rearview mirror and being able to see everything that’s behind is impossible.  Such is true when looking back at happenings in our past.  We cannot see the whole picture or the plan of God for our lives.

It is hard to reason why some things happened the way they did, but they did for whatever reason, we can’t change it.  We can question why all day long and still not come up with all the answers. 

If we know Jesus as Lord, we need to thank Him for grace and mercy and go on living in the peace that He gives to all Christians.  Living a 20/20 hindsight existence only brings pain and unrest in the present.

If you are not a Believer yet, allow God to heal memories that were bad experiences; accept Jesus into your heart.  God wants to forgive past sins and wrong choices to provide an abundant, joyful life as a child of God.

Nobody is perfect, but God can set us free from the bondage of our old nature and put a new desire in our heart to do right before the Lord and not live a 20/20 hindsight existence.

(2 Corinthians 5:17), “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

I must say, the one good thing about my past that I remember is the training I received from Mom and Dad in my youth, regarding Jesus, the Son of God, and the plan of salvation for all humanity, which included you and me.

Though I strayed for a time from God, it was this training that brought me back to the Lord as I matured.  I was looking for peace of mind and remembered Jesus, the prince of Peace.  I asked God to forgive my sins, and the Peace of God entered my soul.

(Proverbs 22:6), “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Are you tired of living a 20/20 hindsight existence?  I give you Jesus!  Let go and let God be your heavenly Father who wants perfect peace for your mind without all the regrets of yesterday’s mistakes that haunt and try to rule the sanctity of present day living. 

Just try God and see if He is not the answer for your troublesome memories.  Let go and let God set you free.  You can forgive yourself and live victoriously in Him because He forgave you of your sins when you asked Him for forgiveness.

www.wordsfrompapa.blogspot.com

Written by,

Papa Boyd