I appreciate the Lenten season; an opportunity to lay aside the past, and focus on repentance, restoration and a brighter and more God-centred future.
I was reading a book by a pastor and counsellor who, on listening to the story of one of his flock was overwhelmed by the ‘tragedy’ of her past; the sins of people against her and her own poor choices and their consequences made for a landscape of suffering and pain. Fortunately he was able to pray with her simultaneously to seek God’s guidance in how to speak into her story.
The insight he received was that
her past was beyond repair but at the same time He revealed that this was not
the end of the story. She had a future. And it was ‘vast, unbroken, pristine and
radiant’. ‘A glory that would be revealed in her, a glory that far outweighed
her current troubles; God was coming to redeem and transform her. Her past was
a tragedy to lament but her future was an epic to anticipate’
Such words of encouragement gave her renewed hope; shown in a transformed countenance as she praised God and received His mercy. Later her life was indeed transformed and fulfilled as she married, had children and has a happy family life.
But this can be everyone’s story. A
new beginning is only ever a prayer away. ‘A contrite heart He will not scorn’.
(PS
51:17) . We have a future and a hope as we entrust the past to God.
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