AL: One of the great lessons I have learned over the course of my lifetime is that with God people can change. Some people get off to a difficult start in life or they hit a rough spot at some point on their life’s journey and think the rest of their life is ruined. Because of something that has happened in the past, they do not believe they could possibly enjoy a great future. Two situations that happened in my life before I was even twelve years old have taught me to think differently about how the past impacts the future.
First, I sometimes look back on the responsibilities I carried as a boy and smile. While most boys my age were playing Little League ball or going to Cub Scout meetings, I was cooking, cleaning house, bathing brothers, and yes, changing Willie’s diapers. Any time he gets a little “too big for his britches,” as we say in the South, I remind him of that! I did not view any of those duties as hardship: I saw them almost as a matter of survival for my mom, my brothers, and me. But my mom now talks openly about the things I missed during childhood. She knows she could not have made it through that period of time without me, but she still regrets the opportunities I missed.
I really don’t feel cheated out of my childhood, at least not in any way that God has not made up for. I’m glad I could help my mom through such a rough time. God has compensated for so many things I did not get to do as a child. I now have happy, healthy grandchildren who love to play, and I take time to have as much fun with them as their parents will allow. I have a great job that I thoroughly enjoy, I have an amazing marriage, and best of all, my whole family enjoys strong relationships with God and with each other.
People looking at me during certain seasons of my growing up could have easily thought I did not have a chance at a decent life. And had God not intervened in our family, and had we not allowed Him to intervene, I might not have. But God did intervene, and today I am living a life that, although not perfect, is better than anything I could have scripted for myself, even in my wildest dreams.
Second, I know the past does not have to dictate the future because I saw a complete transformation in my dad when I was a boy. From a young age, I have believed in God’s ability to work miracles because I saw how thoroughly my dad changed once he gave his life to Christ.
Christianity was not an easy sell to my dad. He had never been a person who trusted others easily, so when the preacher came to our apartment to share the gospel with him, he asked a lot of hard questions. When he was not with the preacher, he studied Scripture for himself. He is not the kind of guy who would have committed himself to a radical life change without thoroughly investigating what he was getting himself into. Dad was a skeptic when he decided to listen to what the preacher had to say and to read the Bible for himself, but he was a desperate skeptic. Deep down, he knew he had made a mess of his life and of our family, and he reached a point where he truly wanted to change. God knew that. God saw his heart, saw his brokenness and his sincerity. And He turned a very messed-up man into one of the boldest, most devoted Christians I have ever known. Dad is certainly aware of his past, but he is not shackled to it. He’s a living example of 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
Dad was a skeptic when he decided to listen to what the preacher had to say and to read the Bible for himself, but he was a desperate skeptic.
No matter what has happened to you, what other people may have done to you, or what you have done to yourself, your past does not have to determine your future. If my dad can go from being a carousing drunk to being the man of God, the man of principle, and the man of courage he is today, anybody can change with God’s help. If my family and I can go from living in a low-rent apartment with nothing but a suitcase to the level of blessings we now enjoy, any situation can turn around. Luke 1:37 says, “With God nothing will be impossible.”
If something negative or painful has happened to you and caused you to think you cannot overcome it or move beyond it, be encouraged. Whether it affected your life twenty years ago or twenty minutes ago, God is willing and able to redeem the situation and heal you from its effects so you can move forward into a blessed life. He still has a great future ahead of you if you will follow Him as He leads you into it.