I’ve become involved in a new relationship and I’m not sure if it’s a healthy one. It’s been going on for about a year or so. There are some good days but there are some bad days, too, just like in a lot of relationships. Now before you get all judgmental and shocked, I know some of you are also involved in this new relationship, too. Yeah, I’m aware of your shenanigans!

Oh, I should probably tell you who, or more like “what” I’m in a relationship with. It’s a little app on my phone and it’s called “Timehop”!! Yup! Timehop. Now most of you are probably thinking “She’s lost her mind!” but I know you’ve thought that before.

Timehop is an app that shows you what your Facebook posts were from years ago. You can then share these posts again to relive the past. And that’s where this relationship has become a love/hate relationship. At first it was fun to see what I had posted years ago. Brought back some good memories. And it brought back some not so happy memories. And this got me thinking (it always feels good when I get thinking….such a rare feeling!). Is it bad to look back? To think about the past and what happened? In the Old Testament (Joshua 4:1-9), God told the Israelites to take stones from the middle of the Jordan River and make stone monuments to remember the past. But in the New Testament (Phil. 3:13-14), we are told to forget the past and press on, go forward, set our sights on what’s ahead of us. So what am I to do? Look back? Look forward? And when I feel that I’m totally confused….the Holy Spirit taps me on my shoulder and helps to clear up some things.

I think the reason why God instructed the Israelites to look back was to not to dwell on all the hardships, uncomfortable times, or the pain. I believe it was to give God, and only God, the glory for what He did for the people whom He loves. My problem comes when I focus on what’s happened in the past and forget to remember how He’s brought me through these tough times. Why do I get so focused on the pain, the hard times, the losses? Why does God not give up on me as a hopeless case? Because He’s good and faithful and patient! My goal for this year, as I continue in this relationship with Timehop is to remember the faithfulness of God! Those tough times? They brought me closer to my Heavenly Father! Those losses? They remind me of the One who knows the number of my days! And those good times, those happy days? They remind me that some days, I feel like God’s favorite kid! They remind me that He is sooooo good to someone who is soooo not faithful!