Power

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

This quote is a classic reminder to the Christian that GOD is the one who accomplishes all things. It is somewhat a mystery. God loves us despite us being selfish, unworthy people. God saves us so we will be with Him forever. While we wait for that day, God brings us through life in such a way that we are constantly making choices for or against Him. Those choices affect our day to day life.

The past does have influence over us - power to hurt and power to keep us locked up in prisons...but not really. We get stuck there because we overlook the truth. We don't see or believe or focus on the fact that WE choose to dwell on things that have hurt. There is a FINE line between dealing with pain from past events without unhealthily (is that a word?) crossing over into nursing grudges, pity parties and other unforgiving behavior. Getting stuck in WHY did this happen only prolongs the pain and makes it grow

The future also has influence over us - yet in theory if anything was going to have power over us the future should have much less power then the past. These are things that haven't happened yet. (So why are we worrying about it?) One of my closest non-Christian friends in college stated it this way - It all comes to a lack of trust that whatever is out there providing good things for us will run out of good things to provide - or that we will fall out of favor so not deserve those good things anymore. We are a skeptical people! That's just those who've had fairly good experiences in life...Then think of those who have had an overwhelming amount of negative past experiences - to them the future seems bleak and hopeless - filled with doubt that there will ever be positive events and relationships that could heal the wounds, meet needs and provide any amount of security. None of us are immune to doubt or worry. Fear takes hold and grows and changes the way people relate to each other. The ability to easily trust is cast aside because we are so certain the future will be filled with hurt and pain that we can't see how we should respond or are so paralyzed we can't motivate ourselves to accomplish it.

That is where the power within can break through.


If pain and fear were people they would be twins, both apprearing with a towering, muscular physique. They dwarf everything around him. Their strength and power is harmful and frightening. A scowl on their face lets you know there is no mercy to be found.

How do we escape their grasp?

We are called to move forward - keeping our eyes on Jesus - not always looking behind at the events that have transpired or dwelling on uncertain things of the future. Such a perspective seems impossible to do.

Both the past and the future are tiny matters when viewed with the knowledge that God holds all things in his hands. He shaped us lovingly. He keeps death from us as long as he wishes. He provides blessings for us. And when those rough times come He is still there for us and still loves us and continues working in our lives. When we look to Him the giants become smaller. We are better able to relate to each other in positive ways. We can more easily forgive others when they have hurt us. Life is less scary when we don't allow those things to weigh us down. When we feel pain or fear creep up and realize we are looking ahead or behind we need to stop and reorient ourselves to looking up to God. When we ask for His help getting through the rough times His power and strength is able to work through us the things we wouldn't normally be able to do on our own. The knowledge of His power is a comforting thing.