Gems of Knowledge

Today’s One Year Bible Verses: Isaiah 12:1–14:32 | 2 Corinthians 13:1–14 | Psalm 57:1–11 | Proverbs 23:9–11

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Are there things in your past that still bother you?

Maybe it was a mistake you made, something embarrassing you said, a decision you wish you could change, a relationship that ended badly, or a season of your life you wish had gone differently. You can be having a perfectly good day when suddenly your mind reaches into the past, pulls out an old memory, and says, Hey, remember this? Let’s think about it again.

And before you know it, you’re right back there.

Today the Lord gave me this Gem of Knowledge:

“Chalk it all up to experience and keep going. Don’t look back. Don’t stop to dwell on it. Just keep your eyes up, looking at Me, and let all that go into the past. Learn from it, then let it go. Amen.”

I love the phrase “chalk it all up to experience.”

Not everything that happens in our lives needs to become something we carry forever. Some things are simply lessons.

We made the mistake. We experienced the consequences. We learned something. Maybe we apologized, repented, forgave, changed direction, or simply became wiser because of it.

Now God says, keep going.

There is a difference between learning from the past and living in it.

Looking back can be useful when we’re asking, Lord, what can I learn from this? But constantly replaying what happened, wishing we could change it, condemning ourselves for it, or imagining all the ways life might be different if we had made another choice doesn’t move us forward.

We can’t change yesterday. But we can allow God to use what happened yesterday to change how we walk with Him today.

Paul’s words in today’s reading from 2 Corinthians fit beautifully here. He tells the believers, “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5 NLT).

That’s healthy reflection…something we all should do.

God isn’t telling us to pretend the past didn’t happen. There are times when we should examine what happened. We need to recognize our mistakes, take responsibility where necessary, allow God to correct us, and learn from the experience.

But examination is supposed to lead to repentance and reconciliation.

Once God has shown us what we needed to see, we don’t need to keep sitting there staring at it.

Learn from it. Then let it go.

Paul himself understood this. In Philippians 3:13–14, he describes forgetting the past, looking forward to what lies ahead, and pressing on toward the goal.

Paul had plenty he could have spent the rest of his life regretting. Before following Jesus, he persecuted believers. Later, he experienced rejection, suffering, opposition, and mistakes of his own.

But God still had somewhere for Paul to go.

And He still has somewhere for you to go.

Today’s Psalm gives us another beautiful picture. David was hiding in a cave while enemies hunted him. Yet in the middle of that frightening season, he says, “My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident” (Psalm 57:7 NLT).

His circumstances weren’t what he kept looking at. His eyes went up and He looked at God.

That’s exactly what I hear in today’s Gem: “Just keep your eyes up, looking at Me.”

Sometimes the reason we can’t move forward isn’t because God hasn’t opened the way. It’s because we’re still looking backward.

We’re looking at who we used to be. What someone did to us. What we did to someone else. The opportunity we missed. The relationship that failed. The years we think we wasted.

Meanwhile, Jesus is ahead of us saying, Keep coming.

Your past can teach you without controlling you. Your mistakes can make you wiser without becoming your identity. Your painful experiences can develop compassion without becoming the place where you continue to live. And even the things you wish had never happened can become part of the wisdom you carry into whatever God has next.

So take the lesson.

Thank God for the wisdom.

Make something right if He tells you to.

Then keep going.

You don’t have to drag yesterday into tomorrow.

Keep your eyes up. Look at Him. Learn from it, then let it go. 💎

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Action (5 Minutes with God)

Take 5 minutes to be with the Lord today. Ask Him:

• “Lord, what do You want me to know about this personally?”
  • Journal what He gives you through His Holy Spirit.
• Then ask, “What do You want me to do?”
  • Journal what He reveals – then do it!

Receive the lesson, make anything right that still needs to be made right, and then intentionally give the rest to Him.

When your mind tries to take you back there again, remind yourself: I’ve learned from it. I’m moving forward with Jesus.

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Prayer

Father, help me learn from my past without continuing to live there. Show me anything I still need to learn, change, forgive, or make right. Then help me release what You never intended for me to carry forever. When I’m tempted to look backward, remind me to lift my eyes and look at You. Thank You that my past does not determine where You can take me next. I choose to keep moving forward with You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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