A wise man once said: “Do not say the old days were better than these for it is not wise to talk like that.” Many people would allow themselves to go back in time and longing for the pleasures they had when they were young or when times were better. Mostly this lingering in the past includes regrets and pain about opportunities lost and mistakes made. Lingering in the past is not always good for our well-being, we must put our minds on the things yet to come. Jesus wanted people to embrace the future and fill their hearts and minds with hope and courage. In a parable that he told he mentioned the example of a man busy ploughing. He said such a man wouldn’t look back once he started. (Luke 9 : 62) So it is with life, you can’t look back all the time you have to look and move forward!

There once was a man called Lot who lived in a very wicked city. One day God decided to punish this city and remove it from the face of the earth. Lot, being a good man, was alerted beforehand about what was going to happen. It was made clear to him and his family that when they flee the town, they shouldn’t look back at it, but run into the mountains and stay there.

Lot’s wife could not bear the fact that she had to leave her good and comfortable life behind. She longed for her friends and the nice things she had. Unfortunately that was not a good thing to do. She disobeyed the order and when they were outside the town moving in the direction of the hills she looked back. She died immediately and her body became like stone. There is no point in longing for things in the past, it is water under the bridge. It doesn’t matter how nice or how satisfying the past was, you have to move on. The past is like chains and stumbling blocks preventing you from finding meaning and purpose in the present! The past will petrify and hold you back.

When Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt they complained many times and said that when in Egypt they sat around pots of meat and could eat as much as they wanted but now they said to Moses: “You brought us into this desert to starve to death!” Ex 16 : 3. The Israelites were barely out of their bondage as slaves and already they had begun to have regrets and were looking back to the time they had with their capturers and masters. With an attitude like that nothing will change in your life, you will be stuck in some bondage, bad habit or destructive way that hurts you and steal your happiness.

Many times we have regrets about things we did and decisions we made. This is true  especially when we decide to move on in life. It is never easy. Richard Branson once said when you decide to do something never look back and never have regrets. Regrets will weigh you down and hold you back when you should move on. That is why God said to Moses when they were trapped by the Red sea in front and the Egyptians at the back: “Tell the Israelites to move on!” Exodus 14:15. There is no turning back when your eyes are focused on the future and you are heading for your land flowing with milk and honey.

It is important for us to have faith in the future and trust God (or the Universe), or any other name you have for God. There is no use in feeling sad about the past, it only hampers your development and effectiveness. It makes you depressed and scared, rather go forward there is nothing to lose and it is the right thing to do. Like one poet once put it: “Why are you downcast O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my saviour and my God!” Psalm 42:11 No matter what happened to us in the past if we are alive we have a tomorrow to think about. This little gem was once posted on Twitter: “A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams”

In Lifestyle22 we choose to move on and embrace the future with a smile