There is a Time to Look Back

   "Of course, that is easy for you to say". That is what I hear in my mind, the thoughts of others as I pen those words in the title of this post. "You have a lot more time in the past than you will have in the life you have left." Which is true, but is there not some value in looking back?

   Take for example, yesterday morning Mayre and I went to the pier early, me for some photography and her for accompaniment. As I focused on the sunrise over the ocean to the east, I was prompted to look around, and there was this cloud formation, with not only the light of the sunrise reflecting on it, but also some generation of lightening as a small storm passed over Jekyll to the south.

   There are things to be learned from contemplating what has gone on before. Where have I come from? How have those influences of the past shaped my present? Did I expect to be where I am now, both in terms of situation and of living? How did I get here and why?

   The psalmist writes in Psalm 139:

"Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them."

   God is not bound by the restraints of time. Past, present and future are all bound up in His knowledge and will. As I try to be in the center of that will, seeing where I have come from seems to be a profitable exercise on my part.

   Am I more of the man that God planned for me or wanted me to become? Am I even aware of His plans for me? Do I care about His plans or mine?

   If I am honest I say, "Sure I want to be in His will. I want to accomplish something for Him. I want Him to be pleased with me, for I know that it will be the most blessed place for me, and my life will be that blessing for others also."

   I know I cannot live in the past or the future, only the present, but that fact does not mean that I can't learn from and be encouraged by the past.

   Just like the cloud I saw yesterday morning, there is an element of storm in that look behind, but there is also the promise of a new day.

   It is well worth the time to take that look, just don't dwell there.