dwell (verb)
- To live as a resident; reside.
- To exist in a given place or state: dwell in joy.
- To fasten one’s attention: kept dwelling on what went wrong.
Over the past few days as Calvary’s staff has been talking about the vision of Calvary as a place where God heals people from the hurts they have suffered through their lives, especially over things that have happened in the past, I’ve been thinking about the meaning of the phrase “dwelling in the past.”
The definition of dwell is listed above, but when you add the suffix “-ing” to the word, it becomes dwelling, a word that literally means a place to live in. So when someone says someone is “dwelling in the past,” they are literally saying that this person is living inside the past; this person has set up house in a time that has gone by.
In Stephen King’s short story The Langoliers, his characters discover that they have been thrown into the past through a freak “time rip.” As they explore their new world, they discover that the entire earth has no signs of life and is deserted simply because people don’t live there anymore; everyone else is living in the present. Time has left this world behind. As the characters try to figure out how to get back to the present, they sample food and drink and find it all flavorless. There are no odors, no noise. Everything, including the grass and the sky, is tinted black and white. Nothing is bright, vibrant and colorful. The past is literally empty.
Can you imagine building a home there? It would be lonely and void of things that take one’s breath away. There would be no vibrant sunsets to “ooh and ahh” over. No clear blue sky or glittering, colorful stars to inspire wonder. It would be staid, boring and stale. So, why do some people insist on living there?
The reasons are myriad and I don’t think I would ever have time or space to get into all of them, but the primary reasons I’ve seen myself are feelings of shame and guilt over a particular event, or feelings of wanting to re-capture a certain glory when everything was “perfect.” But regardless of the reason, living in the past means you miss out on living in the present. And that, in itself, can inspire even more feelings of regret on missing out on something.
The good news is this: No matter how awful the present is, God is always present with us and knows exactly what’s going on AND how it will all work out. God always promises restoration and this is beautifully written about in the book of Jeremiah. This book takes place in a dark period of Israel’s history when Jerusalem was under siege by the Babylonians and eventually destroyed. Jeremiah 33:10-11:
“This is what the LORD says: ‘You say about this place, “It is a desolate waste, without men or animals.” Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted, inhabited by neither men nor animals, there will be heard once more the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD, saying,
“Give thanks to the LORD Almighty,
for the LORD is good;
his love endures forever.”
For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,’ says the LORD.”
Just like the past and the present might seem desolate and deserted, God promises gladness and joy will return one bright, shining morning for those who look and give thanks to the Lord Almighty for everything He’s done, including the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. THAT’S the Good News we can always rely on anytime and anywhere!
If you’re struggling with feelings of shame and emotions that prevent you from moving on to the present, check out this video on our Facebook page. We hope it will help you.
– Matt
dwellgloryGodGood NewsguiltJeremiahpastperfectpresentshame
Dwelling in the Past
July 29, 2010
Calvary
Comments Off on Dwelling in the Past
Matt
dwell (verb)
Over the past few days as Calvary’s staff has been talking about the vision of Calvary as a place where God heals people from the hurts they have suffered through their lives, especially over things that have happened in the past, I’ve been thinking about the meaning of the phrase “dwelling in the past.”
The definition of dwell is listed above, but when you add the suffix “-ing” to the word, it becomes dwelling, a word that literally means a place to live in. So when someone says someone is “dwelling in the past,” they are literally saying that this person is living inside the past; this person has set up house in a time that has gone by.
In Stephen King’s short story The Langoliers, his characters discover that they have been thrown into the past through a freak “time rip.” As they explore their new world, they discover that the entire earth has no signs of life and is deserted simply because people don’t live there anymore; everyone else is living in the present. Time has left this world behind. As the characters try to figure out how to get back to the present, they sample food and drink and find it all flavorless. There are no odors, no noise. Everything, including the grass and the sky, is tinted black and white. Nothing is bright, vibrant and colorful. The past is literally empty.
Can you imagine building a home there? It would be lonely and void of things that take one’s breath away. There would be no vibrant sunsets to “ooh and ahh” over. No clear blue sky or glittering, colorful stars to inspire wonder. It would be staid, boring and stale. So, why do some people insist on living there?
The reasons are myriad and I don’t think I would ever have time or space to get into all of them, but the primary reasons I’ve seen myself are feelings of shame and guilt over a particular event, or feelings of wanting to re-capture a certain glory when everything was “perfect.” But regardless of the reason, living in the past means you miss out on living in the present. And that, in itself, can inspire even more feelings of regret on missing out on something.
The good news is this: No matter how awful the present is, God is always present with us and knows exactly what’s going on AND how it will all work out. God always promises restoration and this is beautifully written about in the book of Jeremiah. This book takes place in a dark period of Israel’s history when Jerusalem was under siege by the Babylonians and eventually destroyed. Jeremiah 33:10-11:
“This is what the LORD says: ‘You say about this place, “It is a desolate waste, without men or animals.” Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted, inhabited by neither men nor animals, there will be heard once more the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD, saying,
“Give thanks to the LORD Almighty,
for the LORD is good;
his love endures forever.”
For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,’ says the LORD.”
Just like the past and the present might seem desolate and deserted, God promises gladness and joy will return one bright, shining morning for those who look and give thanks to the Lord Almighty for everything He’s done, including the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. THAT’S the Good News we can always rely on anytime and anywhere!
If you’re struggling with feelings of shame and emotions that prevent you from moving on to the present, check out this video on our Facebook page. We hope it will help you.
– Matt
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