How Living In The Past Can Be A Good Thing

There is one word that keeps coming up as I read through the Bible chronologically. It seems instrumental between success and failure as it pertains to a steadfast faith.

The people I am reading about that had the most confidence in God, those who were most devoted to Him no matter what they faced, all seem to have shared a consistent practice in common.

                                                                They remembered. 

“Remembering” is a concept weaved throughout Scripture, from the beginning when Eve was asked to remember what God had said about the forbidden fruit in the garden, to Abram needing to remember God’s promise regarding a son, to God asking the Israelites to remember His mighty acts in Egypt on their behalf, to the Law they needed to remember from Mount Sinai detailing their covenant, to David needing to remember God’s call upon his life those years he waited, with a hundred stories in between and since.

All were in need of remembering, although not everyone did.

While some remembered and some didn’t, judging from the repercussions of all their choices, one thing can be said for sure.

                                                           Remembering matters.

So when I get to Esther,  I read yet again an example of God directing His people to the action of “remembering”. This book reflects upon God working on their behalf as He rescued them out of the evil hands of Haman, when he devised a scheme for their annihilation. Haman set a trap for the Jews, but God turned the tables on him as he became the victim of his own scheme.

The Lord used Mordecai and Queen Esther to miraculously bring about the salvation of Jews in the foreign land where they resided. This was accomplished as Mordecai so confidently instructed Queen Esther, who was a Jew concealing her true identity, to put herself at risk by approaching the King to plead for their protection. She risked death by appearing before the King without being summoned first.

As Esther balked at the risk she was being asked to accept, her older cousin Mordecai reminded her of a powerful truth that needed to be remembered. He says in Esther 4:13-14,

…Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?

Mordecai was reminding her of two truths about God from their experience with Him in the past. As he instructs her to ponder her present and her future, he is directing her to look back.

1. Relief and deliverance WILL come. One way or another, God WILL provide. The Jews had been in this predicament too many times and seen first-hand the miraculous delivery God had provided His people. They had only need to remember all of these in order to know how to respond to this current threat.
2. God is known for using unlikely people in impossible circumstances to bring about a great deliverance for His people. The Sovereignty of God came in to consideration as they analyzed their trouble. God had perfectly positioned too many people in the past and equipped them beyond their own abilities to achieve great feats. Esther was no exception to this history.

Not only was it necessary for the Jews to remember before the needed miracle, they needed to remember after the miracle as well. It says in Esther 9:28 ,

These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never cease to be celebrated by the Jews , nor should the memory die out among their descendants.

God had a purpose for His people to mark their calendars to remember and celebrate the miraculous escape He provided for them.  It was to their benefit and His glory for them to regularly look back, which would then prompt the praise of their faithful God.

Therefore, God accomplishes two goals with the same practice of remembering.

1. Faith is strengthened.
2. Worship is given.

All in all, it is beneficial to everyone. As God is celebrated, the children of God are positioned with the ability to move forward in life no matter what is faced, if only we will remember what God has already proven over and over.  The courage to move forward is gained as we look back! 

This past weekend I was given the opportunity to practice this myself. As I received some discouraging news that caused me to question my purpose, I wallowed in self-pity and fear in the beginning. But then I recounted the ways I had seen God provide and deliver thus far. I mentally listed, then wrote in my gratitude journal, the ways He had provided for me that were beyond my ability to produce. I looked back at His faithfulness and chose to celebrate what HE HAD DONE, rather than focusing on what was YET DONE. While I verged on the brink of dismay, the process of remembering tipped me back to rejoicing and trusting.

My friend, what do you need to remember that can help you move forward today? Do you feel constrained and trapped by life’s disappointments? Are you able to handle what makes you feel inferior? Do you feel your days of joy are long gone?

Then remember what God has already done for His children in the Bible and in your life as well. Look back and remember all the answered prayers, all the impossibilities He has ushered you through this far. Consider the provision and protection He has given time and again.

As you remember, you will be encouraged and equipped to move forward in life, steadfast against obstacles and adversaries, just like Queen Esther.  And don’t forget to celebrate when God shows Himself strong on YOUR behalf!