Through the Spillways
Do you lay in bed at night, unable to fall asleep, kept awake over what has already happened? Do you spend time and energy wishing yesterday had been different? You’ve heard the saying, “that’s water over the dam,” right? Think about it, as water flows over a dam, through its spillways, it is forever gone, never to return. What you did, or was done to you, yesterday or even ten years ago, is like water over the dam – can’t be changed.
Every one of us has a past. That past is filled with successes and failures, both big and small. That past is filled with smiles and also with tears. It is filled with things we are glad to share with others, and it is filled with things we keep hidden from others, or at least “hidden” until the it shows up on social media.
In part, your past makes you who you are today. While we are all influenced by our past, we do not have to let our past dictate the present or the future. This does not mean forget your past, instead, it means a conscious refusal to let it absorb all your attention and impede your progress. It means letting the water that has gone over the dam to be just that, gone forever.
You might right now be thinking, “Oh you don’t know my past. The pain is too great, or the hole is just too deep to climb out of.” You are correct, I do not know your past, but what I do know is that Jesus came into this world to bring you a future, a glorious future grounded in hope (Titus 2:13). He loves you and is interested in redeeming and restoring you, no matter how broken you feel, how ugly your past was.
We find that God-initiated restoration put this way in Joel 2:24-26 – “The threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with new wine and olive oil. I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust ate, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust – My great army that I sent against you. You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied. You will praise the name of Yahweh your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. My people will never again be put to shame.”
The immediate meaning of those verses is that for years Israel had seen their crops eaten by swarms of locusts, complete destruction of their harvest year after year. I am sure all they could see was more of the same in their future; they likely could not stop seeing the water that had gone over the dam. But here we see God is promising that their future will be filled with hope, abundant harvests, plenty to eat and drink, and a future in which the people will have reason to praise and worship their God.
Just a few verses earlier, we read – “Then the LORD became jealous for his land and had pity on his people … Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied” (vv.17-18a).
(Jealous in this context means “to be zealous for or concerned for.”
You do indeed have a past, but because of Jesus, despite what that past looks like, even as messy as today might be, you also have a future, a glorious future.
So, regardless of what is in your past, allow the water that has flowed over the dam, through the spillways, to be gone forever, and look to Jesus help you have a better tomorrow.
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