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"Yesterday's a closing door; you don't live there anymore." This line from Danny Gokey's song, "Tell Your Heart to Beat Again," is such a powerful statement. Some people live much of their lives in the past. Have you heard someone say, "Back in the good old days?" Are you ever around people that seem to talk so much about the way things used to be that they can't see what's around them?
God has given us the ability to remember so it's not that we should never think back on the past. We are told at times in the Scripture to remember things. It's good to look back at times and see how far God has brought us and how He saved us from our sins. It's healthy to think back and reflect on the goodness of God in our lives. But there is a difference between remembering and being thankful and looking back because we wish we were back there.
The Apostle Paul had much he could look back on that was good. He had been very religious and trained by some of the best scholars. He had a Jewish heritage and all that came with it. On the other hand, he could look back on how he had persecuted the church to the point of agreeing to the deaths of believers.
But in his letter to the Philippians he said, "One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13 NASB) He was determined not to live in the past, but to look forward to what was ahead and press toward all God had for him.
Maybe you're a parent with young children and you look back and think about the freedom you used to have rather than focus on these blessings in your life. Maybe you've gone through a divorce and you keep looking back at the way things used to be when you were together. Are you going through a hard time financially and think often about how well off you used to be? As we get older we sometimes wish we had the youth and vitality we once had instead of finding out how we can use the wisdom we have gained to help others.
I don't want to live in the past. Yesterday is over. The door is closed. We don't live there any more. If we focus on the present and look to the future, the possibilities are endless. You may be in a season right now where you feel like you aren't able to freely do some of the things you'd like. Instead of focusing on the fact you can't do certain things, look around and see what you CAN do.
God has great plans for all of us, but if we keep looking in the rear view mirror we will miss all the beauty of what is right in front of us. Determine to put the past aside, and occasionally look back and remember the good and the bad, but don't live there. "Yesterday's a closing door; you don't live there any more."