I want to share with you one of my all-time favorite literary passages, but if I share the whole passage, it will eat up too much of my column space, so I will edit it somewhat. It’s from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s “The First Circle” and goes like this:
It has long been known that our life stories do not follow an even course over the years. In every human being’s life, there is one peri-od when he manifests himself most fully, feels most profoundly him-self, and acts with the deepest effect on himself and on others. And whatever happens to that person from that time on, no matter how outwardly significant, it is all a letdown. We remember, we get drunk on, … sing over and over to ourselves that snatch of a song that sounded just once within us… Those for whom it was the period of their greatest wealth, honor, or power will still in old age be mumbling with toothless gums of their lost grandeur.
No doubt Solzhenitsyn is onto something here. But I don’t think that’s how it should be. Not for those of us who are called according to His pur-pose. Don’t get me wrong. I understand that there is such a thing as a defin-ing moment. And I understand the concept of “such a time as this.” I just think there is a crucial distinction between allowing an experience to shape us, change us, even launch us, and allowing that experience to define us to the point of limiting us. A simple (and stereotypical) example would be the high school football hero who never aspires to anything greater, or even the combat veteran who cannot stop saying “there I was.” Accomplishments may and should be celebrated, but if we allow our past triumphs to become our identity, we risk slipping into current insignificance.
We have heard many times (most recently from Tony Cooke) that we must not allow our past failures to consume us, to drag us down, to keep us from pressing forward in the call of God. But it is just as important not to be held back by our past successes. The formula we have already seen in our journey through the Bible is this: “Remember what God has done for you, because remembering THAT will encourage you as you go forward into what God has planned for you.” And the other side of that coin, “remember what God has pulled you out of so a) you won’t go back to it, and b) you will live a life of genuine gratitude.”
In the New Testament, Paul writes, Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are be-hind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of god in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14).
Earlier in this same chapter, Paul recounts his personal history, includ-ing his impressive pedigree and bona fides. About this, he says he counts it all as rubbish! He’s not actually forgetting these things (the good AND the bad) in the sense of having no recollection; he’s saying that what matters is what he’s doing now with regard to the plan of God in his life.
None of this is to say that we may not “peak” in terms of our accom-plishments long before we die. It simply means we don’t spend the rest of our lives resting on our laurels, reminiscing, or either regretting our past or trying to recapture our “glory days.” Because make no mistake: no matter how great it gets here, the real “glory days” are in our future.
God has great plans for LWFC, and you are a part of those plans, no matter what garbage or glory is in your past. Press forward!
With you in Christ,
