Past & Future
- kendramanuel01
- Aug 16, 2020
- 4 min read
The concept of travelling back in time was first dated in 1895.
And 125 years later its still quite a popular genre, not only is it reserved for Sci-Fi movies, but it also found its way into rom coms (About time - brilliant movie), family movies, comedy, Christmas movies, animation etc. It’s everywhere. It almost as if we as humans have an obsession with controlling time. The characters are unhappy with the past so they try to change it, they're worried about the future so they try and 'sneak peek' it.
The essence of time travel stories focuses on the consequences of travelling into the past or the future. And in every movie, the conclusion is that changing the past or fast-forwarding into the future always ends up with :
a. The end of the world as we know it
b. Boy ends up with wrong girl
c. Or a glitch in the space-time continuum
And there are probably so many more consequences - but regardless, things go wrong.
After 120 minutes of repetitive scenes, epiphanies, character development and a cute time-lapse of the future the main character finally understands the importance of enjoying the moment and living within the present. Similarly, we do the same, we don't necessarily have futuristic time machines or psychic abilities but we do have our minds and our minds literally control our perception. We're stuck in an endless loop of all our past mistakes or were afraid of the future and either try to slow it down or fast forward.
The Past.
The past is a funny thing - we have no control over it, we can’t change it, we can’t manipulate it but yet we spend years trying to. My mom once said something that completely changed my perspective. We were back in Durban and my sister had a swimming gala, she'd forgotten to check the times of her next race and then missed it, she was in tears, upset that she'd missed the race, most probably hoping to rewind and go back in time. At that moment my mom had no idea what to say, she was upset and my sister, 10 at the time was hysterical. My mom pulled her away from the crowd, to a quiet place, held her and at that moment she had no idea what to say, she spoke to the holy spirit asking, waiting for a response and then the holy spirit told her to say this " The race that you missed now, that race is not ever going to come again but there are other races that are still waiting and you need to focus and prepare for that so that you don't miss it"
When my mom retold the story years later it stuck with me.
The past stays in the past, the past is never going to come again but the future is still out there waiting for you so you need to focus and prepare for it so that you don't miss it.
And as much as we spend time regretting the past (because believe me, without even realizing it, we do it so often!) let's see the past as a moment in time where God turned what was meant for evil into good.
"I will not become a product of my past but rather a pioneer for my future"
The Future
The future is beautiful, but not my definition of beautiful, not Pinterest's definition, not my favourite YouTubers definition or even my friends. The future is beautiful because Gods in it and he knows it. My favourite scripture and one of the most well-known scriptures, Jeremiah 29;11 is often taken out of context :
'For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'
We often assume that these plans look exactly what we have mapped out in our heads - but if we take a deeper look into the scripture we find out what it means.
The Jews were living under the control of their enemies.
Hananiah (a false prophet) had told the people that God would break the yoke of Babylon, freeing the people to return home, within two years. The people were happy, but it was a lie. Instead, Jeremiah tells the people they would live in Babylon for at least 70 years.
God said - I will redeem them, after 70 years in exile.
So yes, God did have a future and a hope for them but it looked very different than what they ever expected.
We often do this with our lives - "For I know the plans I have for you" gets translated into "For I know the plans that I want for myself, God will have for me."
As much as God loves us, he loves us way too much to give far less than our own human brains can even begin to fathom and therefore Gods ways are higher, his plan are bigger and the future he has for us may look completely different than what we have imagined. But how exciting is that! I'd much rather have 70 yrs in exile if that means living in his promise!
Wow! That was a lot.
Ahhh I'm excited for what the future holds. I'm soo scared but in the same breathe so confident. I hope you leave here feeling encouraged, challenged and inspired!
p.s Here's a song I listen to when feeling anxious.
Here Again
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