How to overcome dwelling on the past

But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf…. There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. … His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him.

Acts 27:41, 28:7-8

In 1948, during a runoff Senate primary fight with former Texas Governor Coke Stevenson, early indications were that Congressman Lyndon B. Johnson had lost. Six days later, however, Precinct 13 in the border town of Alice, Texas, showed a very interesting result. Exactly 203 people had voted at the last minute—in the order they were listed on the tax rolls—and 202 of them had voted for Johnson.

While Stevenson protested, Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black upheld the result and Johnson just barely won by 87 votes. It wasn’t until July 30, 1977, that Luis Salas, the election judge in Alice, admitted that he and southern Texas political boss George Parr had rigged the election.

By the time the truth came to light, Lyndon Johnson had gone on to serve as a Senator, Vice President, and President of the United States. In fact, Johnson had been dead for over four years by the time Salas made his confession. So who knows how history might’ve turned out were it not for the dishonesty of a few.

Many people today look down on their current situation in life because they don’t believe their means of getting there were of God. But like Paul when he was shipwrecked, we have to realize that no matter where we’ve come from, we are where we are because God wants us there. So instead of dwelling on the past, find your joy in what God’s doing in and through you today!

Prayer Challenge

Pray that God would give you peace about your current situation today no matter how you arrived there. Ask Him to work in and through you for His glory.

Questions for Thought

How have you seen God work through you in a situation it didn’t seem like He was blessing?

Whatever the situation is—financial, health, abandonment—that brought you to where you are today, how can you open yourself to being used by God?