“Your Past Does Not Determine Your Future”
Our past becomes a bridge, not a barrier
Do you know what I’m grateful for that might come as a shock? Failures. If it weren’t for my failures, I would not be where I am today. I’m grateful I had to endure some uncomfortable seasons, unexpected circumstances, and closed-door opportunities. I take this as a shift and redirection from God. The plans that He has for us are bigger than what we can imagine. I believe we must position ourselves with a posture of wanting God’s heart and will for our lives. Many times we are afraid to make the next move because we let our past interfere with truly stepping out into our destiny and walking in purpose. The enemy will tempt to feed us lies, and show us our mistakes and past but we must guard our hearts and minds and remember what God has said about us. He has not changed His mind about you because of your past experiences, He is still calling you forward. Failures are a stepping stool to help you reach your next. One of my favorite scriptures, is Jeremiah 29:11 “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. God already has the blueprint, we just have to trust His word and have faith during the process. You are not your past, if God has already spoken a word into your life and of your future then it is already done. Your past does not intimate God. He will grace you with the favor that only doors He can open, speak your name into rooms that you haven’t even stepped in. Your past does not determine your future and where you are heading. Your mistakes, and failures, will not interrupt the very thing that God has promised and instore for you.
After graduating from high school I didn’t have a clear pathway of what I really wanted to do. I knew the colleges and universities that I wanted to attend but as far as choosing a major and career path I struggled with that. My dream since a little girl was to always attend Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. I applied twice and still didn’t get accepted. I cried so much because that’s all I ever knew and wanted. I didn’t have any other plans. While being a student at Midlands Tech I had a very rough semester. It had gotten to the point where I had to apply for an appeal to begin receiving financial aid because my gpa dropped. I was devastated, I had to sit out a semester and pay for college out of pocket on a payment plan. I allowed the lies of the enemy to filter my thoughts by thinking that I wasn’t good enough, smart enough, I was behind, and comparing my journey to others. Even in the midst of everything happening around me, none of it caught God by surprise and He still had His hand on me through it all. God operates even in the middle of the storm, my best friend explained it to me like this, “Do you trust Him enough to fall?” Are you going to fully surrender and completely depend on Him? I had to let go of my plans, and lean on His understanding. It doesn’t matter what has happened in the past, the mistakes you have made, the different routes you had to take. I never imagined myself being the President of the Student Advisory Board, and getting inducted into a National Leadership Honor Society. I didn’t picture myself becoming the student speaker to speak at a Commencement Graduation Ceremony. Who would have thought that I could shake hands with former Vice President Kamala Harris, and work alongside the mayor of my city? How was it possible that the door opened for me to be accepted to work at one of the greatest entertainment companies in the world, working for Disney? I’m testifying to say that God can do the unthinkable and the imaginable. His thoughts and ways are not like ours. What God has set up and designed for you is specifically crafted and created for you. In Ephesians 3: 20 it says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,” God is the author of your story, the obstacles or hardships doesn’t define you or determine where you’re going. I find joy knowing that God is not done with me yet, it’s still more He has for us. The future is bright and it’s for His glory.
