Don't Stumble Over Something Behind You

I have seen this little tidbit of advice EVERYWHERE lately. Now, I must say, the girly girl in me initially went straight to romantic relationships when I saw this. The first time I was all, Yea girl leave that good for nothing man back there and stop trippin’.

But then I realized there wasn’t a “no good” man for me to get over this time. I’ve worked through that mess. But there is a part of me that occasionallychooses to replay my thoughts and feelings from past situations. Even when I didn’t have a thing to be bitter about, I’d grown so used to spouting the stuff and replaying those thoughts that they came automatically. It’s like when a movie image gets stuck on one scene, but the characters have moved into the next. I had moved on, but my emotions were enough to trick me into believing I hadn’t.

And that’s just it! Your past is right where it’s supposed to be. It’s right where you left it the day God woke you up to a new day. But we choose to rehash the images and the emotions attached to people and events and things. 

And those emotions will get you. Whether it’s the anxiety you feel when you take a standardized test because you’ve always done poorly on tests. Or the way your heart starts to ache when you see a cute couple even though you’ve been single longer than you were ever in your relationship to begin with. Or the anger you feel when someone in authority gives you a directive because you never had a trusted authority figure in your life as a child. It’s all the same. None of those things or people can reappear before you today; you will never literally stumble over those exact same people or exact events again. What you will stumble over are is the remnant effervescence of what your heart felt at the time, and that my friend, is simply thin air. Emotions are deceptive. You’ve got to go with what you know to be true - that you have a future ahead of you that doesn’t involve the ghosts of the past. Going with what you feel will have you stuck boo-hooing in a corner over some mess that’s already gotten its boo-hoo’s out of you!

Now, I think the saying should say, Don’t stumble over something behind you; it’s all in your head anyway!

If you have given your life to Christ, you have to know that He wants to give you a  renewed mind and a new heart. God totally wants to do a new thing in you to erase those hurts that try to trip you up on your way to the awesome future He’s promised. When those emotions and images reappear, no matter what the situation, tell yourself you’ve got something better up ahead. And if you stumble over those thoughts, know that you haven’t fallen over them and keep moving forward.

Riss