“You will forget your misery . . like water under the bridge.” Job 11:16 NLT
“Your past is past; let it go.”
My thoughts today are about “bygones.”
People speak of “building bridges” and “crossing bridges.” Bridges can be a metaphor for things that connect, or even words or actions that separate people, such as “burning bridges.” From an earlier generation, there is an idiom of American speech that describes times and experiences in life as being “water under the bridge,” unchangeable and unrecoverable. It is a way of saying, the past is past; let it go.
That could be said of words spoken unkindly, opportunities squandered, grudges old and dusty, friendships neglected, and such like. Such occasions leave empty voids in hearts and lives. Imagine how much better relationships, marriages and families, and our own lives would be if we could let go more easily, rather than dragging out every hurtful memory, recalling every ill-advised conversation, and recounting every old disagreement.
Everything that ever happened to you fills your history, things both good and bad. Only the good and helpful experiences become your heritage. Best that you not confuse the two. You are not your past, unless you accept that as true; nor should your past define your current reality, unless you allow others to do so for you. See Philippians 3:13-14 NIV. There is limited room in a person’s mental, emotional, and relational capacities. When you fill that capacity with hurtful stuff from your past or disappointment over things that could have been, you leave little room to explore present moments.
As well-intended though frequently misguided as their advice was, one of Job’s friends gave him this hopeful advice, “You will forget your misery. It will be all gone like water under the bridge. Your life will be brighter than the noonday. Any darkness will be as bright as morning. You will have courage because you will have hope.” Job 11:16-18 NLT. What do you need to recognize as “water under the bridge” today?
I recall my grandmother, a most gracious and Godly lady, from whom I never heard an unkind word or ever knew her to keep an offense against anyone. Her explanation? “Sometimes you just have to let bygones be bygones.” (Isn’t that a great, old word? Very simple, yet descriptive!) She seemed to keep her life emotionally uncomplicated and uncluttered. That’s a very good way to live. Maybe by recognizing some things as bygones, “You will have courage because you will have hope!” What a great promise! Do you need hope restored? Courage revived? Give God everything in your past, and He will give you everything for your future.
My prayer for you today is that you live in the moment with your heart fixed forward.