Right after waking up just the other day I did the thing that most of us probably find ourselves doing at some point during winter. I walked over to the window to put the forecast aside and see what was actually happening outside. We’ve had a cold streak here in Maryland and there was snow on the ground from a few days earlier. But that didn’t really matter. What mattered was what the precipitation would be today.
To my surprise it was rain. It seemed cold enough that it should be snowing. And it always seems strange, for some reason, to see it raining when there’s still snow on the ground. But for that day it didn’t matter what the previous conditions were. It only mattered what was currently coming down.
Allow me to explain the metaphor I saw in this.
It’s important that we look out the window of our lives every once in a while as well. That way we can see what’s coming down. Not necessarily what the conditions have been, but what’s currently coming down.
It could encourage or challenge us to see what’s really going on. There have been times in my life, to be quite honest, where my “conditions” seemed to be just fine but what was “coming down” wasn’t all that fine. It wasn’t obvious that things weren’t good. There was still some of the past definitely there. But what was coming down was not what I wanted.
When you notice that – when you notice that you’ve maybe gotten distracted or apathetic or maybe even began to compromise – then you can do something about it. It’s a great forecast for where things are going if they don’t change. And then you can, by the grace of God, make the change!
And I’ve also seen this principle work as an encouragement. One person in particular comes to mind. She has come a long way in her journey with the Lord and yet sometimes struggles with where she’s come from.
I often try to reminder her that her past conditions aren’t most important. The important thing is not the past that is slowly melting away. It’s what’s coming down…now.
God is in the act of rewriting so many of our stories. The enemy will try to discourage us with our current conditions. He’ll point out where we’re not perfect yet. But God’s not finished with us yet either. As long as we’re tapped into His Holy Spirit, that work is being done in us. Don’t give up!
And it’s also through that same Spirit that we can be challenged when we look out and see that things aren’t going exactly right. When we see that we need to change some things. See God loves you and I just as we are, but He loves us far too much to let us stay just as we are for the rest of our lives.
There’s a good chance that if you spend a little less time on where you’ve been and a little more time on where you’re going, you’ll like where you’re going!