Security for our past, present and future
“For you will not go out with haste, nor will you go in flight [as was necessary when Israel left
Egypt]; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”
(Isa 52:12Amp)
Yesterday: God requires an account of the past from us all. And although we choose to turn
our minds to the future, anxiety and despondency very often arises when we remember our
yesterdays. And our present enjoyment of God’s grace is often diminished by the memory of
yesterday’s sins and blunders – if we allow it, that is!
But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He very often allows the memories of them to turn
the past into the spiritual growth needed for our future in order to protect us from a very
shallow security in the present.
Tomorrow: “… for the Lord will go before you …” And He will keep watch so that we will not
be tripped up again by the same failures, as would probably happen if He were not our “rear
guard.” And for those of us who know Him, we have the assurance that His hand has reached
back to the past, settling all the claims against our often troubled conscience.
Today: “… for you will not go out with haste …” let this not be with forgetful delight, nor with
quick impulsive thoughtlessness, but with the patient power of knowing that the God of
Israel, “… will go before us.”
For most of us, yesterdays bring shattered and regrettable things to mind, however, whilst it
is true that we have lost opportunities that will not return, God can transform this
destructive anxiety into constructive thoughtfulness for the future.
Therefore; let’s leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands and step out into an
unwavering future with Him, allowing Him to exhibit in us the virtues that were so
characteristic of the Lord Jesus Christ!