Happy New Week & Happy Wednesday Friends!!! It feels good to be connecting with you on this platform today, it’s been a minute #smiles. I am currently working out plans to be consistent here & give the timing of the post a rhythm. Hopefully, it won’t be long, communicating with you here brings me fulfillment & I pray each time you visit; you leave inspired. God’s plan for the blog is RESTORATION for his children.

A few days ago, I made a post on my Instagram about not letting a single mistake, bad experience, failure, rejection define your entire being, if you are yet to read it, visit @ujuhumphreyeke on IG to read (not sure when but soon, I would update the blog to the paid version so I can directly share links to my other social media platforms here, that way you just tap on the link to read the post on IG without leaving the blog page entirely).

If you are visiting the blog for the first, welcome & thank you for stopping by, you can take out some time to visit the previous posts on the blog & I pray that it inspires you & encourages you on your faith walk.

For the purpose of this post, PAST is not only tied to sin but generally every past low moment that has made us see ourselves differently or given us a false definition of ourselves; that includes past sins, past failure, past rejection, past disappointment, past financial challenge (even your present financial challenge doesn’t define you, it doesn’t mean that you are never going to get wealth) God has given us the power to get wealth according to Deuteronomy 8:18 but he also didn’t promise that the road to getting that wealth wouldn’t be bumpy, he didn’t promise that you are never going to get broke. Truthfully, being broke is part of the process to getting wealth because in that state, our trust & faith in him is tried & when we scale through that, we get a badge for unwavering faith & trust in the Father.

So, after putting out that post, I felt a leading to do a more detailed post on it giving helpful insights on how we can live past it. First thing I would like you to know is that no one I mean “NO ONE” escapes life’s cold treatments, mistakes & shocks. At one point or the other, we have been faced with situations we are not proud of, we have been faced with disappointments that make us feel there is something wrong with us, we have been faced with rejection that have had us thinking we are not good enough after all. We wear this weight round our being refusing to let go and forgive ourselves & work towards being better, I have been there multiple times…sometimes I feel worthless but I know in reality that I am not worthless and God doesn’t see me as worthless despite all of my wrongdoings, It is just a feeling that is capable of sabotaging our lives if we let it. It’s the enemy who paints that picture of worthlessness as to make us feel ashamed and run from the presence of God to where he can totally have us body, spirit & soul to perform his wicked enterprise.Thank God for his grace and the understanding of his word, my eyes have been opened to greater truth, I am learning daily to see myself the way God sees me and nothing less.

In this post I would like to share helpful insights on how to view & live past our mistakes, disappointments, rejections, failures& walk in confidence of who Christ has called us to be.

But first, let’s look at what Ecclesiastes 3: 6 says A time to get and a time to lose: a time to keep & a time to cast away… My addition “A time to mourn over your mistakes & past and a time to let them go” Your mistakes should teach you how to live better going forward & after you have learnt that lesson, you throw it away…we throw away things that have past their usefulness, we throw away old things that no longer serve us, you have learnt that lesson from your mistake let it go.

Some reminders of God’s promises towards handling your past mistakes (The points below deal with past sins/mistakes but we can also channel same promises to deal with failures, rejections & disappointments)

• Your past of shame is forgiven in Christ & now Christ wants to use you to show off to the world. We all have sinful pasts but none of them is out of reach of God’s mercy. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful & just to forgive us our sins & cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Think of men & women that God used in the bible despite their sinful past, look at Paul persecuting early Christians, Rahab the prostitute that protected the Hebrew spies etc. God wants your name recorded in his book.

• Your past no longer defines you; 2Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. So, in the case of a past mistake or sin, when you fully repent and rededicate your life to Christ, he says all things would become new. He didn’t say somethings would become new while you still walk around with that baggage of guilt & shame. All things becoming new includes your heart, your attitude, the way you see yourself etc. Yes, I get how difficult it is to forget what has happened to us, truthfully it can’t be wiped away from our memory but allow it to remain where it belongs -the past. The flashes would pop up occasionally but when your mind is renewed in Christ, you view it differently, you don’t start reliving and internalizing it. Allowing guilt from the past will only cripple you spiritually and otherwise, conviction by God’s spirit is okay because it leads to repentance and freedom.

Insights to Making the Best Out of Your Past & Walking in Confidence

• Allow your past to shape you but do not dwell there: For a long time, I down played myself because a particular circumstance made me feel I wasn’t that special anyways so instead of aiming for the front row, I was okay being average because I felt I wasn’t qualified to stand in front. That single incident made me doubt everything I believed about myself. The Lord doesn’t want you wallowing in past failures instead he wants you to move forward & make wise decisions to become much better. He wants your mind renewed. Your past unquestionably shapes your character & reputation, but you are not to dwell there. We are not even supposed to dwell on good past achievements resting on our laurels instead of considering fresh opportunities.

• Create a liberation channel with those past experiences; The consequences of that past failure can be used to transform lives positively; your past may suggest opportunities to help others. I have always wanted to run a blog as a channel to inspire & reassure people of the promises of God upon their lives, my blog as at 2013 when I created the very first one was supposed to be a channel to share God’s word. It didn’t quite go as planned coupled with my long period of complacency &distractions, but God got my attention back & I began blogging, my experience from that period of distraction framed a unique direction for the blog. Now is not just about sharing God’s word but to targeted souls who have fallen by the way side in their walk & have lost sight of the restoration power of God, the blog teaches on the assurance of Gods complete restoration tabled with life experiences, I didn’t choose that direction for the blog but the grace of God transformed that story for his glory. For that not so beautiful experience that hunts you, how about you surrender it to God & prayerfully ask him to use it for his glory.

• Your past circumstances can’t be changed but you can be changed: the future is yet to be determined and can be influenced when you become a changed person.

Practical Test: Recall that one time you performed badly in an exam be it a job test or school test, instead of dwelling on that failure, how about you start ruling out the poor reading habits or maybe you read /prepared well, how about seeking help & looking out for people that have travelled that road to give you a guide. You could move from failure to excellent, do not choose to play small & settle for average.

In conclusion, your past has as much power as you give to it, drop the baggage, seek fresh meaning, seek restoration, seek help, seek to be better, embrace God & watch him transform your life.

Prayer

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of life, thank you for protection, preservation & provision. Your grace has kept me thus far & that is a proof you still want me here, it’s a proof that you are not done with me yet. I know I have sabotaged my life by allowing my pasts to define & shape my life. Dear Lord, I repent from taking away & for giving a false identity to ME your beloved creation.

I have gotten my share of life’s troubles, challenges, and mistakes, most times I want to live & move past it, but the flashes keep popping up & has overtime framed the way I see myself. Dear Lord, I believe in your restoration power, restore me Lord & give me the grace to see me the way you see me. I do not want to keep reliving & revisiting that past failure, sin, rejection & disappointments. Open my eyes Lord & show me ways to channel those hurtful pasts to useful tools to help others and to your Glory. I am laying all baggage at your feet & I move on restored, forgiven, renewed & blessed. I reclaim my identity in Jesus Name, Amen.

Do you need someone to hold your hand, encourage you while you a take step to your complete restoration & fulfilling your purpose?

Want to prayerfully seek him for alignment & realignment of your purpose?

Then the Lord has just led you to the right place, let me hold your hand & you hold mine as we prayerfully go on this journey.

Let’s do this together friends “FOR HIS GLORY “and to the shame of the Enemy.

STAY WINNING!!! STAY BLESSED!!! STAY ENCOURAGED!!! AND ABOVE ALL ARISE & SHINE!!!