What do you do when you find yourself in a place that you never wanted to be? What do you do when your choices have led you into a cavern of darkness? Maybe you find yourself far away from God or from the relationship you once had with Him. Perhaps your family relationships are damaged. When you step back and take a look at yourself in the mirror you wonder who that person is looking back at you. “How did I get here?” You hate who you’ve become, but you feel trapped.

“Can I really change the way I have been thinking, feeling and acting?”

“Will those I have hurt along this path forgive me and accept me back into their lives?”

“Will God really forgive me? Will He really help me?”

“How do I get out of this?”

If that is you, then please know that you are not alone. Many have felt that sense of despondency at who they have become and feel like their past has eaten up their future. Through our association with the Hoving Home in Garrison, New York, I have witnessed the transformation of women whose stories are unbelievably sad, even tawdry. Many have done things to maintain their drug or alcohol habits that you and I might blush to speak of. But when the Hoving Home choir travels to different venues, the main purpose is not to sing, but to share their testimonies of transformation. They unflinchingly and sometimes with tears describe their lives before they came to this faith-based reahabilitaiton home and then they openly and joyfully declare that Jesus has made all the difference in helping them to leave that past behind and to move forward toward a new life. Their testimonies give evidence to the fact that no matter what your past has been, your future can be better, brighter and glorious.

Friend, you may not have thrown everything away for drugs or alcohol, but you may have that same feeling when you look in the mirror. “How did I get here and who have I become? Can I really change?”You may feel just as trapped in a lifestyle of bitterness, resentment or fear. Your past wounds or sins may stalk you and overwhelm you over and over.

“Why do I always do that?”

“Why can’t I change?”

“Will I ever be free?”

Dear friend, don’t give up. Know that your past does not define your future.The ladies at the Home would tell you that there is hope. They have begun to experience the unforeseen joy of transformation and have started to believe that life can be different. They would tell you that no matter where you have been or what you have done, what thoughts and fears may plague you, what behaviors may entangle you, change is possible.

Dear friend, don’t give up. Press on. Your past of sin or wounding or disappointment may cloud your ability to believe there is a good future. Regardless of your situation now, regardless of what has happened before, you can overcome. Choose to leave it behind. You know what hashappened but you dont know what willhappen. The decision to move forward is a decision to trust God with it. If anyone could have let the past trip them up it would have been the apostle Paul. He killed Christians! But as he surrendered to Christ and became a Christian himself, he also needed to surrender that past to Him. He had to trust God with all the wrong choices he had made and just keep moving forward. You can, too. Trust Him to somehow use your past or make sense of it, if not in this life, then in the next. You can become someone you are not ashamed of. You can look more like Jesus. He wants to help you get there. Just take the first step.

Key thought: Don’ let who you once were keep you from becoming who you were meant to be.

A Scripture to consider: “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3:13-14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A YES challenge: Take some time to write down all the things about you and your past that you feel are obstacles to change. Once you have finished, take a good look at your list and then ceremonially destroy that paper as a an act of faith that those things will not determine your future. Burn it, tear it up, whatever you have to do in order to say, “From this day forward, God, I believe you will help me change.”

Prayer: Lord, You know me. You know who You created me to be. Sometimes, it seems like I might never become that person. Help me to leave behind everything that holds me back. Help me to press on toward You and Your purposes for me. Help me to become all that You have planned for me. Amen.