A Re-Run: History versus Prophecy

In my Tuesday morning ladies Bible study group we are doing a new Beth Moore series entitled Wising Up and it is a study from the book of Proverbs. We are only one week into it and I wish so very much I had done this study years ago. I could certainly have used some ‘wising up’ in my younger days. That is not to say I don’t need it now. I am desperate for God’s wisdom in these days, but perhaps I might have made smarter choices had I ‘wised up’ long ago.

In this week’s teaching session Beth made a statement that reverberated in my heart and so I thought we’d ponder it today. She said,

Whew!! That is profound and I believe there is someone out there that needs to know that TODAY!! Read it again and this time personalize it. “I don’t have to let my history read like prophecy.”

I made so many poor choices in my twenties and thirties. Thankfully, the Lord grabbed me up by the hair of my head and dragged me to a place where I had to turn my eyes toward Him. If I had not responded to Him in repentance, I could have easily allowed my history to read like prophecy, yet again. I could have continued to make poor choices and live my life for myself, rather than for Christ.

So many people live today as if they are bound by their history of poor choices. Friends, just because we messed up once or twice or a gazillion times does NOT mean we have to keep messing up. We can decide today to make wiser choices. We can choose to allow Christ to help us make better choices as we walk through this life.

I have a beautiful young friend who has, by her own admission, made very poor choices in the past. She will always bear the reminder of some of those choices. It would be so easy for her to listen to Satan whisper in her ear that she is worthless because of the mistakes she has made, but to the praise of God’s glory, she is not allowing her history to read like prophecy. She has made a decision to deal with the consequences of her past actions and begin to make wiser choices. I am so proud of her for doing the ‘hard thing’. When I look at her I can envision the woman of God that she will become because she has not allowed her history to dictate her future. She will be a mighty testimony of the grace of our Lord.

So many of the people we read about in the Bible could have allowed their history to read like prophecy. Think about Rahab the harlot, King David the adulterer and murderer, Moses the murderer, Paul the killer of Christians, and Peter, the one who denied his Lord. These mighty heroes of the faith made poor choices, but they did not allow those choices to dictate their future. They became what Isaiah 61: 3 calls, “oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”

That is what you and I can become if we do not allow the poor choices in our history to read like prophecy. Let’s make a conscious choice to ‘wise up’ and make decisions that reflect God’s wisdom.