Twenty-one years ago today, I was battling cancer when my friend Paul called and said, “I want to read you the December 31st devotion from the book My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. The last sentence is a special word for you.”
I had endured a major surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation in the previous five months. It had been a very difficult time, yet the presence of God in my life had never been greater.
Paul read, “As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the haste of impetuous, unremembering delight, nor with the flight of impulsive thoughtlessness, but with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays present irreparable things to us; it is true that we have lost opportunities which will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past sleep, but let it sleep on the bosom of Christ. Leave the irreparable past in His hands, and step out into the irresistible future with Him.”
Paul repeated the last line slowly for emphasis, “Leave the irreparable past in His hands, and step out into the irresistible future with Him.”
What do you need to do to put the irreparable past in His hands? How can you step out into the irresistible future with Him?
As we end one year and start another, I am a living testimony that you can put the past behind you and move forward into the future. In the months after Paul’s call, God showed me His greater purposes for my life. God strengthened my marriage, blessed my children, and even healed my body.
Dare to ask God today,
God’s passion for His people can not be extinguished. Do you embody this same passion?