Explore Your Past…

God’s Word says in Isaiah 4:18-19, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” (NIV) We must learn to live our lives in such a way as to not allow our past failures to dictate future success, or in this case, future creativity. At the same time, one of my favorite passages of Scripture says, ‘I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 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.’ (Lamentations3:19-23 NIV). We focus on our past as a means of remembering all God has done. This produces a grateful heart. Gratitude is a springboard into the deeper places of God’s heart. In the deep places of God’s heart there is a wealth of creative power. Remember the past. Don’t live there. Allow God’s hand in your life to produce gratitude. Be grateful for what you have, not what you don’t have. Be grateful for what lies ahead. Don’t fret over what you didn’t accomplish in the past. Creativity waits for you in the place of gratitude.