Let it go.

Nothing spoils the present like obsessing about the past. Solomon warns against this and even tells us why in Ecclesiastes 7:10:
Do not say “Why were the old days better than these?”
For it is not wise to ask such questions.

So, longing for “the good old days” is not wise. But why? First, they are gone. Time flows only in one direction. Second, clinging to the past steals present joy (Psalm 118:24): “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” That’s an order, soldier!

Maybe the best reason to move on is that clutching the used-to-be stifles the very creativity that can chart a way forward. In ancient times, when a city was destroyed, it was rebuilt on the same site using the same stones. But archaeology shows that usually the city walls expanded and the floor plans changed. Growth happened.

Jeremiah shows us how that works. Devastated, and standing in the ruins of Jerusalem, he mourns the city’s sin and suffering. And then (Lamentations 3:22, 23, 32) he remembers God’s love:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. . .
Though He brings grief, He will show compassion,
so great is His unfailing love.

While we are not saved by our own creative adaptation, hope in God births and motivates it. When fire consumes thousands of acres of old growth, the forest does not die; it reinvents itself. We will grieve the loss of value and businesses and jobs, but fresh opportunities will be the green shoots of something new. God always is at work. Let it go.

“Father, help us learn from our past without living in it. Our hope is in you. Grant us grace to release things that never were truly ours, and embrace today’s mercies which certainly are. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”


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