Spilt Milk

"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14 (KJV)

Have you ever heard the phrase, “Why cry over spilt milk?” It's something we can visualize in our mind.  Imagine a person standing at a refrigerator door, thirsty, ready for that cold glass of milk, then while pouring the milk it goes all over the floor.  What can you do besides clean it up and pour again? Some would actually stand there and agonize over what they can't drink, because of what was lost. But what if it was the last bit of milk in the house? Then you just have to wait until it's restored in the morning!  There are situations in our lives that are rather like spilt milk.  We can't go back and change them or pretend like they never happened. We just have to allow the Lord to help us clean it up and go forward. Sometimes easier said than done but here is what works for me.

 "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee; He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." Psalm 55:22 (KJV) I love how it reads in The Message translation: “Pile your troubles on GOD's shoulders—he'll carry your load, he'll help you out. He'll never let good people topple into ruin.”

What happens when we don’t cast our burdens upon the Lord and also keep everyone else's burdens?  We carry unnecessary weight. We live looking backwards wishing things were different. Instead, we should move forward from our past, and move into what God has for us. That is what it means to let Jesus carry our load.  We don’t need to become emotional junk haulers constantly trying to fix ourselves when we are not capable of doing so. Just remember that the burden needs to be released to the Lord, He can handle it. 

It's more than memories--it's also fixating on what we could have, or what we believe we are entitled to. Some actually get a mindset of, “that was my last chance at happiness.” But if God is our Father, He's our joy and knows what we need at all times. We should stop crying over spilt milk and move on.  We have to release ourselves from standing and looking at the puddle. We can't afford to keep reliving the past, because if we do, we may miss what God has for us. The spill, as painful as it may be, is not the end of us. God has the last say so on our lives, not a job, relationship, business, etc. It's time to stop crying over spilt milk… Past is past and the new he wants us to walk into is right in front of us. Let’s not miss it because we are weighed down looking backwards.

Blessings,