Did you know that Satan is not omniscient? He is not all-knowing. And one of the big things he doesn’t know is the future. I’m sure he has an amazing understanding of what is going on right now and a vivid memory of what has happened in the past, but as far as what will happen, only God can see that.
Perhaps that is why one of the greatest tools of the devil is your past. Satan will conveniently remind you of how things went wrong, how you were hurt, how embarrassing something was, or how you messed up. He will try to tie you down with the past so that you won’t move forward.
The apostle Paul had a bad past. He had worked to destroy the church. He was sort of like a bounty hunter of Christians and cheered on their executions. But Christ showed him the light (literally), and he became who God wanted him to be. He could have cowered at home remembering all the times he hurt people. He could have justified living a quiet life because surely no one would listen to him after what he had done. But, no! He boldly moved forward planting churches and proclaiming the gospel.
Paul writes these words to the Philippians: But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead (Phil 3:13).
God has plans for you, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer 29:11). God has a future for us. And we would all be much better off focusing on what God wants us to see rather than what Satan wants us to see.
Today, may you focus on Christ rather than on your past.