If you’ve ever struggled with the wounds of the past, then you and I have something in common. Maybe you struggle with your own failures. Maybe someone has hurt you deeply, and even shattered your sense of who you are. If you sometimes catch a stray thought of the past in a way that makes you wince … remember, God, who is a very real and present help, is also the Lord of your past.
I recently came across this lyric from an older Christian song:
Lord of the here and now
Lord of the come what may
I want to believe somehow
That you can heal these wounds of yesterday
So now I'm asking you
To do what you want to do
Be the Lord of the Past
(singer, Bob Bennett)
That phrase, “be the Lord of the past” keeps kicking around in my head. Reminding me that just as He is Lord of today, and Promiser of my future, God can also be the Lord of the painful past.
God cares about the hurts we carry around. Psalm 56:8 says, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book” And He promises peace, healing and a sound mind.
Hanging onto a painful past, not only robs us of peace, but can cause us to identify as a victim and rob us of a sense of self-worth. But our Heavenly Father, through Jesus, has given us a new identity! An identity rooted in Him.
Whether you struggle with a debilitating wound from last week, or from long ago… Pray this prayer with me; “Lord, You know my heart and you know my hurts. You are the Lord of the here and now. You are the Lord of come what may. Jesus, won’t you be… the Lord of my past.”