REFLECTIONS: Don't Look Back!

1 That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! 3 Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" 4 And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt." (Numbers 14:1-4, NIV)

One of my favorite rock bands in Junior High was the band Boston. In 1978, they released one of the first LP's (remember those?) I ever purchased - Don't Look Back. Ken Emerson, writing for Rolling Stone magazine wrote of band leader Tom Sholz's purpose behind the album. "Don't Look Back," he wrote in 1978, "is shot through with Scholz' anxieties. The lyrics are preoccupied with failing to measure up, with failing to be a man. "A Man I'll Never Be" wishes, "If only I could find a way/I'd feel like I'm the man you believe I am." Amid its pleasant jingle of acoustic guitars, "Used to Bad News," a charming, rather Beatles-like song written by Delp, protests, "I've been used, but I'm takin' it like a man.""

The lyrics from the title song, Don't Look Back, sound like someone wanting to reassure themselves (in desperation?) that tomorrow is going to be better than today!

Don’t look back
A new day is breakin’
It’s been too long since I felt this way
I don’t mind
where I get taken
The road is callin’
Today is the day!

The Israelites wandered and wandered in the wilderness. Over time, growing tired and disenchanted with the God who had freed them from Egyptian captivity, they grumbled and complained and finally even told Moses that they were ready to go back to slavery rather than wander aimlessly!

How often do we want to re-take control of our lives when we don't see the results we demand right now from our walk with God? Our lives feel like they are continually spinning toward something. What, we do not know. And when we lose sight of the destination, rather than express thanks for being free with our God even as we journey, we long for the "certainty" of the past.

How does the saying go? We long for the devil we know, rather than the devil we don't?

As the poet Dante travels through Hell he encounters the mythic monster, Medusa. He is warned by his guide, the Latin Poet Virgil, not to look into her glowing eyes, "lest you freeze in your steps!" Medusa in Greek Mythology - as in Dante's Inferno - was an symbol for our remorse and regret. Look directly into the face of it - and you'll freeze in your steps.

But here's some good news!

2005 is just around the corner and God wants for us to see a new day dawning.

What's keeping you bound to the past? Isn't it time you named your "Medusa" - that thing that keeps you from moving forward? Isn't it time you stopped being pre-occupied with it, let it go, and move with God out of the wilderness? Isn't it time to stop wishing you were back where you were and instead, confidently allow God to lead you to a new day?

It's the new life we seek. Life where we are no longer bound to be slaves to the past, but are free to walk with God in liberty, maturity, and love. To what new place does God want to take you this year?

The apostle Paul comments, "1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:1-2)

Let 2005 be a new day with new life and a new or re-newed walk with God! Enjoy your freedom in Christ... and don't look back!