When Your Past Keeps Haunting You

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Zach Williams had spent years chasing his dreams, but

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the lifestyle had turned into a nightmare of drug addiction,

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broken relationships, and constant regret. He was a

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husband and a father, but his daily choices were tearing his

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family apart. He had dug a hole of sin so deep that his past

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replayed at his head like a broken record, and it was

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convincing him he was too far gone to ever change. could ever

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have a clean slate?

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Welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm Bart Léger, and

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today we're talking about breaking free from the chains of

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past mistakes, sins, and regret. Some of us carry memories that

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replay like a broken record. Things we did, things done to us,

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and there are probably a myriad of choices we wish we could undo.

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The enemy loves to drag us back to the worst chapters of our

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lives, and convince us that's who we really are. But don't

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give in to him. Listen to what God says in Isaiah 43, 18 and 19:

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But forget all that. It is nothing compared to what I am

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going to do; for I am about to do something new. See, I have

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already begun. Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through

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the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland."

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God spoke those words, the Israelites were bogged down by

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their history. They were trapped in their failures, living in

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exile, and they assumed their story had already been

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completely written by their own mistakes. And God interrupts

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their despair with a command. He says, "Forget all that."

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He wasn't telling them to pretend the past didn't Think

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about it. We can't go back and undo the past. And God is

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telling them to stop letting the past determine their future. He

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is the God of the something new. We all have things in the past.

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We wish that we could delete. There are words that we spoke in

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anger. There are probably relationships that we have

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ruined or a secret is bringing you constant shame. Or a season

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of rebellion where we walked as far away from God as we could

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get. Or a season of rebellion where we walked as far away from

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God as we could get. And if you aren't careful, the enemy will

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take that past and play it on a loop in your mind. He will

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whisper, "You're a hypocrite. Why even try?" Look at what

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you've done. You'll never outrun this. What he's doing is he's

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trying to convince you that your worst mistake is your truest

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identity. But your worst chapter doesn't have the power to define

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you unless you let it. God looks at your dry wasteland. The place

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is where you see nothing but ruin and regret. And he says, "I

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can create rivers there. I can make a pathway right through the

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middle of that mess." And when you surrender your life to

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Christ, your past is no longer your master. "You're washed.

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You're justified. You are, as the Bible says, a brand new

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creation." Sitting on that bus, Zack heard a Christian song on

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the radio about being redeemed and the truth of it cut straight

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through his shame. In that moment, Zack cried out to God.

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He then went on to quit his band, cancel the rest of his tour and

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he flew home. He surrendered his life to Christ, got sober, and

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eventually became a Grammy-winning Christian artist

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singing about the grace that saved him. The enemy will always

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try to drag you back to the things you wish you could undo,

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trying to convince you that's who you are. But the past is not

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the final word over a life that is surrendered to Christ. God

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redeems our history and creates rivers in the dry wasteland.

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Maybe you are sitting in your own guilt today. Maybe the

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broken record of your past is playing loud in your ears right

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now. Let this devotion interrupt that track. Your mistakes and

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past sins might be real, but God's grace is bigger. He isn't

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intimidated by the hole you have dug. Here's today's challenge.

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The next time the enemy tries to drag you back into the shame of

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your past, I want you to talk back. Remind him of Isaiah 43.

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Say out loud, "That is over; God is doing something new in me. I

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am a new creation." And then stop obsessing over what you

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can't undo and start trusting the God who can make a pathway

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through your wilderness. Lord, so many of us are haunted by our

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pasts. The mistakes, the regret, the sin, and the shame are so

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heavy and they're weighing upon us. Thank you that you don't

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leave us in that wasteland. Thank you that our worst

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decisions are not the final word. Father, we ask that you break

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the chains of our past and help us to stop replaying our

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failures and to start looking for the new thing you're doing

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in our lives. We thank you that you've washed us clean by the

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blood of Jesus Christ, and we ask that you make a pathway

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through our wilderness today. In Jesus' name, Amen. If you are

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carrying the heavy weight of a past sin or mistake or choice

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and you're struggling to believe that you can truly be forgiven,

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I would love to pray with you. You don't have to carry that

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shame alone. Leave me a voicemail at

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dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/voicemail and I'll pray for you by name.

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Thanks for joining me on Daily Devotions for Busy Lives.

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Remember, your past is not the final word; God is doing

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something new. Come back next time for more encouragement to

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help you live grounded in God's truth. Until then, God bless and

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have a great day.