Pastor’s Corner: “Retro-Vision”
Psalm 107:2 (ESV) – 2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble
Psalm 107:2 (NIV) – 2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
I just received an email with a link with my oldest daughter Madison and her husband Aaron’s wedding photos from November. I spent the morning looking at those photos and reliving that beautiful night and moment in history. It made me think of Ally and our wedding. All the memories of family, celebration and joy came flooding back. Then I thought about my parents wedding pictures that were in black and white. I love looking at old photos of my family history. But woven into those good times are also difficult and painful memories.
Looking back at where we’ve been is fun and exciting, until you get to the hard stuff. If we’re honest with ourselves, we don’t mind looking back on pictures from weddings, births and high school graduations — but we don’t dare look back at other times in our lives. We all have seasons we wish we could put into a vault, throw away the key, and never think about again.
For some, that might be an eating disorder, an abusive past, a season of extreme yelling at your kids, or infidelity in your marriage. For most of us, there are years we wish we could erase from our memory bank — years spent running away from God, living our lives for ourselves with no care for morality or the consequences.
After I started following Jesus, I was afraid to talk about the years I spent living for myself. And when we’re honest with ourselves, sometimes we also fear talking about the struggles that happened during our walk with Jesus for fear of what people will think about us.
Over the past 30 years of following Jesus, I’ve learned something important about looking at the past. Rather than seeing myself as a failure who made many mistakes, I see myself as a human who like all of us, can’t help but make mistakes. And instead of seeing a disappointed God who wishes He’d never created me, I know my heavenly Father looks at me and sees a child He loves, adores and sent His Son to die for.
When we look at our past through the lens of the gospel, everything changes. When we look back and see Jesus rescuing us, we can speak about our failures and blunders. That’s when we get to point others around us to the God who loves us so much that He would choose to save us — even with the full knowledge of all the mistakes we would make. This is when we get to show the world that we are a redeemed people! Psalm 107:2 says, “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble.”
Looking back at the joyful memories of high school, sport events, weddings, and birthdays shows us the whole story that led to the person we are today. But the same is true when looking back at our failures, the things we never want to share. When we see how far God has brought us and how He lavishly loves and continues to mold us to look more like Him, we can proclaim His goodness to a world of people longing to be loved in spite of themselves!
Romans 8:38-39 (NLT) – 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Dear Lord, Your love for us is extravagant and bigger than we could ever imagine or deserve. Father, please help us to remember where You have brought us so that we can continue to proclaim Your goodness to the world around us. Your love changed our lives and continues to change our lives. We want to shout that truth from the rooftops for all to hear – In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
In His Grace,
Pastor Hamilton