It is easy for me to get hung up with the past, the things I have done that I should not have, and the things I have not done that I should have. It is natural for us to think about those things. As I continue on my 90-day foundation repair challenge, I look at these as cracks in the foundation that need to be strengthened. In foundation repair, You cannot fix a crack in the foundation. The crack will always be there. You repair the foundation by leveling the cracked slab of concrete and then adding additional support where the foundation is weak. The cracks will always be there.
It is the same with us. I cannot change what I have done in the past. Those cracks will always be there. That is not a bad thing. Those cracks make me who I am today, for better or worse. They remind me of my failures and of the grace of God. They, hopefully, remind me to not make those mistakes again. They remind me where I came from as I continue on this journey of life.
One of the projects I have been working on during this 90-day challenge is decluttering. I still have a lot of stuff from my parents that I have not gone through since they passed. It isn’t an emotional thing. It is that I am down to the things that I need to do something with and I don’t want to take the time to do it. I also have a lot of my own stuff that I need to do something with. I have been working through old photos and scanning them to get rid of the physical clutter (and creating more digital clutter, but that’s another project). I still have boxes of old audio cassettes and videotapes to go through, and, of course, lots of papers and journals from my younger days and from my parents. All things that are on my long list of unfinished projects that I’ve mentioned a few times.
That list is getting smaller as I gradually get some old projects finished and I strengthen the part of my foundation that doesn’t finish projects. Part of strengthening the foundation is digging out the dirt underneath the old, cracked foundation to clear a space to add supports underneath. Sometimes the clutter of life becomes so overwhelming that it is difficult to move forward. My physical clutter is much easier to deal with than my mental and emotional clutter. That is one thing this 90-day challenge has done for me. As I worked through the Seek First series, reading through the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, I gained a better understanding of what Paul wrote about in Phillippians.
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Phillippians 3: 13-14
When my focus is on God, “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness”, it does not matter what I have or have not done. I can forget the past and press on toward the kingdom of God and his righteousness and the prize, which is heaven and a forever life with Christ Jesus. There is nothing on this earth that is more important or more enjoyable than that.
Yes, the old wounds will always be there. The mistakes we have made, the broken hearts, and all the “I wish I would haves” will always be there. Our foundations are all cracked. We need to seek forgiveness where we can and get rid of the clutter that we can get rid of, but change our focus to seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all the clutter of life, particularly the mental and emotional clutter, will begin to go away. Change your focus to your future. You cannot change your past. Press on toward the goal.
