You Can’t Go Back

“Mom, I want to go back to being four years old again,” my daughter said to me with a look of complete sincerity.

“Why would you want to do that Jesi?” I asked.

“Because then there would be no school and no drama!” she declared with triumph.

Apparently, third grade drama between her classmates had been taking its toll on her. Jesi has inherited the “why can’t we all just get along?” gene from me.  Her desire for peace among her friends and fellow classmates weighed heavy on her conscience as she relayed to me the specifics of the most recent episode.

While we chatted about the personalities of the children involved in this particular incident, I tried to formulate in the back of my mind the best possible response to her original statement.  My husband and I view each of these conversations as golden opportunities to teach Jesi valuable lessons about life.  We do our best to emphasize compassion and integrity in our guidance towards how she might react to each scenario.

Today, however, all I could come up with was one simple statement.

“I’m sorry sweetie, but you can’t go back”.  I watched as her small shoulders shrugged in submission.

“But why would you want to?” I smiled at her as I leaned over to give her a hug.

Why would you want to?

The words resonated with me later that evening after my daughter was fast asleep; all previous worries and concern erased from her mind.  Why do we do that?  Why do we cling so tightly to the past and to our memories, shaded as they might be?

Nothing is left for us there.  It is gone.  It no longer exists.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. — 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)

Learn from it.  Use it to guide you, but don’t dwell on the past.  If you are in Christ, you have been made a NEW creation.  Your focus now is for the future and the desire God has to use you for His Kingdom.

And what a glorious future that can be!