
Sweet. Kind. Gentle. Caring. These words would describe Janette. Janette is one of those people we all love to be around…a person who is always fun, always caring, always kind. She is the kind of person who could talk your ear off, and keep you entertained, all at the same time.
The only problem is, along with her fundamental pleasantness, Janette could also be described as limited. Because of her past…because of the things done to her, and the things she had done, those things she had shared with me in quiet moments, she was limited. Limited in what she believed about herself, limited in what she believed about the world around her, and limited in what she believed about what she could do and what she could achieve. She is sweet & engaging, but on a fast track to nowhere, because of her belief system revolving around her past and how it impacts her present and future.
A valid question, and one that many wrestle with, is “Does My Past Determine My Future?” Does my past and all I did and all that was done to me determine my present and future? What’s interesting about this question is that the answer for some is yes, and for others it is no. The past determines our future based not on the severity of what was done in the past, but in how we handle it, process it, learn from it, and most importantly, change.
Looking at the Scripture, you can clearly see times where our past does NOT determine our future, and times when it does. The Scripture is great because it records BOTH the highs and lows of spiritual champions, and so in gleaning from their lives we see that at times the past determined the future…and other times not.
Look at Moses, who was an angry man. Moses was a murderer, and yet also became a liberator of millions. David was an adulterer, a murderer, and a king whose pride and ego directly led to the deaths of 70,000 of his own people. Yet, he was also remembered as the greatest king in Israel’s history, a man after God’s own heart, and the one whose lineage birthed the Messiah. Paul was an overzealous killer of Christians in the early church, meting out his own definition of truth and justice. He also became the greatest leader of the early church, converting multiplied thousands of people and writing about half of the New Testament. So we clearly see that the mistakes of our past are not necessarily the measure of our future. We can shape our future.
However, look at King Saul in the Old Testament. Initially, he became a king who was wildly proclaimed as a liberator, and who in fact did liberate his people and win some early battles. In the end, though, he died in shame and disgrace due to his sin and walking away from God. We can’t forget Samuel, the prophet who clearly heard from God and led a nation, and yet who did not even lead his family right. And lastly, who can forget Judas, who literally stood there as Jesus raised the dead and fed the 5000 and cleansed the lepers, and yet he died strung up by his neck from a tree, having betrayed his Master? So we also see that the mistakes of our past can be the measure of our future.
“Does My Past Determine My Future?” The truth is that it does if…
- You Are Stuck – Un-Resolved Issues. Many of us got into trouble in our past because of issues from our past we did not resolve. What you do not resolve, you will be doomed to repeat, over and over again. Resolve what you need to resolve so you can move forward and shape your future.
- You Are Bitter – Un-Processed Pain. Bitterness is a cancer that eats away at our life and vitality…our very soul. Forgiveness is the greatest single thing you can to unload your emotional baggage and free yourself to shape your future.
- You Are Searching – Un-Met Needs. When needs are not met early on in life, we often get locked into this loop were we keep looking, in every situation and new relationship for those needs to be met from long ago. It is a shock to some people to realize that what they are doing in their current relationships has nothing to do with those current relationships, but everything to do with un-met needs from previous ones. We gotta get over it. Grieve what you never got. Be grateful for what you did. Move forward and shape your own future!
- You Have Not Learned & Grown – Un-Appreciated Hardship. Some people experience pain and turn it into gain. Others experience pain and all they do is groan. Do not waste your pain! Use it. Learn from it. Grow through it. Shape your future.
- You Have Not Changed – Un-Made Choices. Change is all about me…my choices…the road I choose to take…the things I want & choose among many differing options. Human destiny is not determined my chance or circumstance, but by choice. We can spend a lot of time blaming our current state of affairs on what was done to us, what should have happened but did not happen, what did happen which should not have happened, what we wanted to have happen but which could not happen, and what supposedly could never have happened which inevitably did happen. But the truth, at the end of the day, is that life deals us a hand of cards to play. Now what are you gonna do? Shape your future.
This question, “Does My Past Determine My Future?”, however legitimate and valid, is flawed. The question should not be “Does My Past Determine My Future?”, because for many people, it does. The question should be, “Will I Let My Past Determine My Future?” Because truthfully, only we determine if it does or not. Shape your own future.
For me, for a long time, my past determined my future. I was stuck, I was bitter, I was searching, I did not learn & grow, and for sure I did not change. I am happy to say that all of that is slowly changing…and that I am on the path to shape my future as I have always dreamed it to be. I hope you will join me… :-)