Get Past Your Past

This excerpt offers hope and healing to anyone weighed down by regret, reminding us that with God’s help, you can get past your past and step into a renewed future. Drawing on the story of the Prodigal Son and powerful promises from Isaiah, it encourages readers to turn toward God, reject the lies of shame, and embrace the fresh start He offers. It’s a call to leave the pigpen of failure behind and walk in the freedom of God’s grace.

Struggles and remorse. Letdowns and sorrows that linger repeatedly. Many of us have experienced the weight of past mistakes and wrongdoings, yet we find ourselves unsure of how to move forward. So we continue on, hoping against hope that somehow they will magically improve, cease to cause pain, or even vanish altogether.

But reality rarely aligns with our hopes, does it? Instead, it often feels like the burden grows heavier with time. Instead of leaving those painful moments behind, we often dwell on them until they overshadow even the truth of God’s presence. We fixate on them until we find ourselves mired in despair, paralyzed by the fear that any attempt to progress will only lead to further failure.

If addiction has sent you into a spiritual tailspin, you can break free by shifting your focus away from the past and toward your future—a future secured by the promises of Christ Jesus found in His Word.

Paul provides an important key in 2 Corinthians 3:16: “When one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” You see, whenever you turn toward the sunlight, your shadow is behind you. In the same way, when you turn wholeheartedly toward the Lord, the sins and shortcomings of your former life are behind you and out of sight. Isn’t that good news?

Escaping the Pig Pen

The life of the Prodigal Son reached a turning point when he “came to himself” while tending pigs (Luke 15:17). Realizing he was reaping the bitter fruit of his poor choices, he made up his mind to correct his course and reunite with his father.

He was determined to keep the habit of failure from dictating his future. Given the choice to continue the downward slide of his life or surrender to his father’s authority, he chose the latter and didn’t regret it!

You see until a person comes to this moment of realization, he will continue to wallow in the pigpen of yesterday’s faults, failures, and hurts. The turning point can’t come until he truly commits to learning from his past mistakes and heads in another direction.

You may be saying, “I want to move past my sins and failures, but I’m grief-stricken by the hurts and heartaches I’ve suffered.” If you’re feeling the torment of these thoughts today, please know, there is hope: God can lift you out of the situation you’re in. He can help you learn from your past mistakes and free you from the enemy’s pigpen of failure and despair!

Look at these encouraging promises from the book of Isaiah:

Behold, the former things have come to pass,
Now I declare new things;
Before they sprout I proclaim them to you.

Sing to the Lord a new song,
Sing His praise from the end of the earth!
(42:9–10 NASB).

Do not call to mind the former things,
Or consider things of the past.
Behold, I am going to do something new,
Now it will spring up;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert (43:18–19 NASB).

Some powerful principles are contained in these brief passages of Scripture:

God declares His desire to give us a fresh start when we need a breakthrough. Agree with God and declare your breakthrough out loud as many times as you need to hear it.

• He desires to give us a “new song,” so we can “sing His praises from the end of the earth.” Sing along with a Christian radio station, hum your favorite hymn while you do chores, and “make a joyful noise to the Lord” (Psalm 100:1 ESV) during your church’s worship time.
• He wants to stir our hearts to be aware of the new things He’s doing in our lives. Pay attention to the little things as well as the big breakthroughs.
• We are told not to “call to mind” or “consider things of the past.” Every time a memory of addictive behavior pops into your mind, reject it, and consciously focus on something new. This will take practice.
• No matter what kinds of difficult seasons we’ve been facing, God wants to “make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” Claim this promise for your life! Read this verse out loud and personalize it with your name.

We encourage you to spend some time meditating on these wonderful promises from God. Instead of the devil’s pigpen of dependency, He wants to show you His purpose and provision. Write out the most helpful verses on a notecard and post them where you can see them frequently, or create a screensaver for your phone. Play worship music in the background during your workday. Try to memorize God’s promises to you.

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Excerpt taken from Simple Steps to Overcoming Addiction by Inspiration Ministries

You’re not who you used to be … and your journey is just beginning! Step into what’s next.