What if you could change the past?

“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14.

Growing up, one of my favorite books was “The Time Machine” by H.G. Wells. I always wanted to travel in time. But I didn’t want to go backwards. I wanted to go forwards.

I was less interested in changing things and far more intrigued by what the world would look like in the future.

However, you might not feel the same way. You might be regretting some of the mistakes that you’ve made and wanting to turn back the hands of time to do things over again. Sometimes, we wish we could go back in time to right a wrong or prevent something that we know will cause us pain. We can spend lots of time thinking about what we would have done differently so that life would be better now. We would all like to go back and change some aspects of our past. But, of course, none of us can go back. Even if we could, there’s no way to know how much damage that would create.

Many of us spend too much time living in the past and beating ourselves up because of past mistakes and sins. God forgave you when you accepted Christ’s death for your mistakes and sins. So, forget what is behind you and focus on what you need to do now. You can certainly learn from some of your previous viewpoints and decisions. But you really need to focus on where you are now and what God is communicating through the circumstances He is bringing into your life at this very time.

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Editor’s note: The Rev. Dr. Scott Stewart is the pastor of Pea Ridge United Methodist Church and Brightwater Methodist Church. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. He can be contacted at revjstewart@gmail.com or 479-659-9519.