Kim and I recently did a Podcast about the 1980s. What an amazing decade! I was glad that I got to witness it. But it got me thinking about the past. Not in a reminiscing Wonder Years kind of way, but a “would I go back?” kind of way. That’s a complicated question, and I’m confident I’m not the only one who has asked it.
Would You Go Back?
This is a loaded question. If I can go back, can I interact with my younger self, or would that cause a time-space paradox and tear a giant hole in the fabric of the universe? Or can I go back and relive my life all over again, correcting all my mistakes, and also invest in Amazon? I often think of this series of questions. If I could go back and relive my life entirely…if I could give my younger self one piece of advice…if I could go back and rectify just one mistake in my life. Would I?
What Would You Change?
Ok, true transparency here. I’d love to go back and relive my life entirely. Like, if I went to bed tonight and woke up tomorrow as 44-year-old Caleb in 8-year-old Caleb’s body? I’d love it. I’d be wiser, live healthier, make better choices, a LOT fewer mistakes, and yes I’d invest in Amazon! I’d never worry. I’d focus on what’s important. I’d probably learn how to play the piano, too.
But what about those other two questions? If I could go give myself one piece of advice or correct one single mistake, would I do it? I’m not so sure. I can think of a lot of mistakes I’ve made, regrets I have, words I shouldn’t have said, relationships I’ve ruined, people I’ve hurt, stupid diet plans—OK CALEB. STOP DIGGING UP THE PAST!!! Suffice it to say I’ve made my share of bonehead decisions. Honestly, if I could only change one thing I probably wouldn’t change anything. Why?
Because, Butterflies, That’s Why!
Ever heard of the Butterfly Effect? Basically it’s a form of chaos theory that poses that one small change in a seemingly insignificant way can have a chain reaction with catastrophic results…or something like that. The original question posed by Philip Merilees was, “Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?” Weird stuff, but makes sense in my going-back-in-time-to-correct-one-single-mistake scenario.
If I changed one thing in the past, who knows what kind of effect, positive or negative, it would have on my life? Would I still be married to Kim? Would I still have an awesome son? Would I be where I’m supposed to be? Would I be a washed-up, overweight motivational speaker who lives in a van down by the river (#vanlife). Possibly, but possibly not. And I don’t want to play those odds.
Perhaps you disagree with me, and I respect that. Maybe you have one huge mistake that you are confident, if rectified, would make your life perfect. You may have one regret that looms so largely in your past that you’d be willing to take that butterfly gamble. Well to that I’d say…
You can’t change the past, but you can shape the future!
This I know for sure. Time travel doesn’t work. Why do I know? Because I’ve just now determined that if it does work I’m going to come back, right here, right now and tell myself that it does. (Looking around the room, just in case…) NOPE, it doesn’t work!
But this I also know for sure. It doesn’t matter that we can’t change the past because we can and constantly do help shape our future. I say “help shape” because there is a sovereign God who is in more control than we are but that’s a good thing!
So what do we do with our past mistakes, regrets, and failures? To quote some philosophers…
It’s like my buddy Timon always says: you got to put your behind in your past.
Pumbaa
No, no no. Amateur. Sit down before you hurt yourself. It’s “You got to put your past behind you.”
Timon
Ok, maybe I should stick to quoting scripture…
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14(NIV)
The only thing we can do with our past is to learn from it, and then press on. God has more, and bigger, and better things for us in the future but if we’re stuck in the past we will get nowhere. Don’t believe me? Next time you go to Wal-Mart try driving there only looking through your rearview mirror. It’ll just breed more regrets.
I have one more verse that I read today that really spoke to me.
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:18-19(NIV)
I love that part that says, “Do you not perceive it?” God is doing great things, but sometimes we are so stuck in the past we can’t even see it. But when we keep our eyes on Jesus he can take our regrets and turn them into highways!
The past…Fuggedaboutit! The future…God’s got big plans for it! So stop building that time machine, because the future’s better than you could ever imagine!