It's easy to fall into the trap of looking back. The only benefit I receive from neck-craning is humility. To see how God has brought me from my ways (a deceitful and wicked path) to His ways (faith and righteousness) brings joy to my broken heart. That's humility. Without it, there can be no repentance.
Other than that, looking back is useless. Hope lies in what is ahead. We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God. This may not be our definition of "good," however, but God's definition trumps our definition every time. Suffering, sickness, yes, even death, are good when they fall under the plans and purposes God has to bring glory to Himself. I would assume that none of these things would fall under our definition of "good." Goodness to us is bound by time. God's goodness is eternal. If we struggle with this, we must consider our worldview. Are we willing to sacrifice our comfort, possessions, and life to follow the will of Him who created it all?
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Matthew 6:19-21
The Kuckel family reunion this past weekend has given me hope. Just as I now know there was hope for me, a slave to works and pride saved by grace, I see hope in the lives of these precious family members. My prayer is that we would be humbled by our past and broken before God, knowing that He has served a purpose in the past in order that we be united to Christ in His sufferings on the cross. And, at this point, that we would completely surrender our life to Christ and the power of His resurrection. Without the resurrection, there would be no new life, but death only.
Complete surrender means submitting our will to God. It means believing that His ways are higher than ours in all things. It means having a heart of repentance, knowing that we will fall, but being willing to confess our sins and accept discipline, if need be. Then we press on boldly, read the Word daily (we cannot live by the words of any other man if we do not first live by the Word of God, the Bread of Life), and live faithfully with hope for what is to come!
"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13
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