The question, when will my life not suck? is more of a statement than a question. It’s a frustrated protest of current conditions, not so much a genuine hope for better days. The past can be an antique mall of old hurts, wounds, offenses, rejections, neglect, abuse, lack of opportunity, missed opportunities, and squelched dreams. In the vintage baggage section you can find mocked aspirations , conspiracies, sabotage, prejudice, poor health, insufficient funds, unsupportive parents, bad dates, evil ex-spouses, and rebellious children. That’s just a sampling from the bottomless pit of bad things that have happened to us. Then there’s an entirely different aisle for our own past crimes—sins, failures , bad decisions, and stupid mistakes— that we profess still bring us suffering or punishment. Hold onto your shopping basket; an enthusiastic shopper can find plenty of items to justify the self-pitying claim: “See, look at this! My whole life has sucked.” Let me hasten to say that I don’t mean to make light of painful experiences in your past. As a pastor and therapist I’ve been given a front-row seat to unimaginable suffering. I have often left a home, a hospital , a jail, or my counseling office, shook my head, and thought, “I don’t know if I could survive if I had to endure that.” I fully recognize that the past has profound influence on our present experience. But a large measure of the past’s power and control in our lives is authorized by us. Some of us are so weighed down by our past that we are practically carrying our tombstone to announce that we are no longer really living— they just haven’t buried our body yet. The dates of our birth and death are already etched into the granite. The final date was when we were fired, when the affair was discovered, when our spouse left, when the business failed, when the accident happened, when our loved one died, when our child rebelled, when we declared bankruptcy , when the diagnosis was confirmed,when the house went into foreclosure, when he started drinking, or when we got that phone call. We’re the walking dead, emotionally and spiritually hollowed-out, just waiting for our body and the coroner to make it official. “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal” (Philippians 3: 13– 14 NASB). I’ve always had a fondness for that verse because it has my last name in it. But more importantly it reveals Paul’s approach to engaging his past, present, and future.
Quote from: Presson, Ramon (2011-03-01). When Will My Life Not Suck?: Authentic Hope for the Disillusioned (p. 109). New Growth Press. Kindle Edition.
Here is an answer to problems we face to handling the past. Ask Jesus to forgive where I have sinned and help me to be different in future. I apologize/repay/return for what I have done to anyone and set right my life.and trust Jesus to help me in the future.
Here is the Good News 