I saw myself through different eyes the other night. The contrast was stark and painful. From my perspective, driving through the streets I took for granted two plus decades ago, I saw broken relationships, exploited situations, and friends casually tossed aside. A good friend saw something quite different. She remembered days full of energy, hope, and potential.
We spent the evening talking, reminiscing, and sharing. The conversations moved easily from past to future to present and back around. The painful memories of missed opportunities, careless decisions, and people who are no longer here were dealt with by someone who knew all this yet loved unconditionally.
“Kind words heal and help; cutting words wound and maim.” (Proverbs 15.4)
I find it continually amazing how God’s face shows through the people in my life. They care as God cares. They love as God loves. They know the drawbacks yet see the potential. They hate the failures yet readily forgive and move to the present.
Do you realize just how much God loves you? God knows your past better than you do! He could recall ever act of selfishness, every moment of arrogance and pride, each instance of pain caused by a word, act, or decision, yet this does not color his view of you or me. What does color and shape is view is the fact that He loves us so unconditionally and completely that He has, in advance, already provisioned for our failures and positioned it so that we can be fully, completely, and wonderfully restored into our full potential!
History is, from God’s perspective awesome! God doesn’t impose justice, he offers mercy. God does not require us to stand on our own; he extends his hands and Son to take the burden from us. It is not that he ignores the past, he brings everything into focus. Our failures, His death on Calvary, our wonderings, his promises, and our faith lived out in trust are all in the picture.
The ending is already written from God’s side. Question; is this the history we want to write?
