“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” ~ Isaiah 43:25
I was at a recovery meeting years ago, and the guest speaker that evening wasn’t aware that he only had 30 minutes to narrate his personal story of recovery from alcoholism. I noticed that the chairman kept checking his watch and looking anxiously at the speaker, trying to motion to him to start winding up his story. The speaker must not have noticed, going on about all the negative consequences his drinking had brought upon him.
A couple more minutes passed before the chairman gave up and finally cut him off completely. “Thank you for sharing your story tonight, Jim. Now we will move into the discussion part of the meeting, or at least what few minutes we have left of it anyway.”
The speaker’s face began to blush. “I’m deeply sorry,” he said. “I thought I had the entire hour to speak. I didn’t get to the most important part – the hope that comes through sobriety!”
When we are asked to share our stories of recovery at a speaker meeting, we are encouraged to share what we were like, what happened, and what we are like today. So many times, however, a majority of a typical speaker’s allotted time is spent rehashing what it was like (in other words – focused on the drinking aspect). On some level that may be effective enough, but obviously the goal is to also spend a good bit of time talking about the solution they have found to their drinking problem – the hope!
This story reminds me in sort of a reversed, roundabout way of what God said in Isaiah 43:25 above. Or better yet, particularly what God DOES NOT say.
Let’s read it again.
“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”
Does God say anything about us ourselves forgetting or not remembering the life that He rescued us from? Absolutely not! So, you ask, why is that so important?
Here’s why. God wants our pasts to become invaluable resources for us today in our personal testimonies to others. “Would you believe that I was once like this? I used to do this and that, I used to lie, I used to steal, I was always hurting others with either my words or my deeds. But here’s what happened when God entered my life. Now to be sure, I am far from perfect today, friend. But by the grace and mercy of a kind and forgiving God, I am no longer that person I used to be. This is who I am today. This is who I wake up every day of my life trying to be.”
No, we are not who we used to be. We have a new identity, one built in an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. But we should never forget that place from which we came, either. If we do, we miss a wonderful opportunity to relate to another sick and suffering individual who is desperately searching for the same hope and peace that we cling to today.
So although the speaker missed the mark at the recovery meeting that evening by not discussing the solution he found and focusing only on his past, there is however incredible value for Christ followers to not forget what we were once like and who we used to be.
“This is what I did, this is who I was. But because of God’s grace and mercy, I am a different person today. I have hope! And if God can change me and my entire situation, He can certainly change yours too!
God forgives and forgets. Let us, then, forgive ourselves for what we have done, for He doesn’t want us living in our past. But neither does he want us to ever forget what He has done for us.
This is the grace of a living, loving, and merciful God.
Former Blackout Artist 