“Do you recognize me?” a woman asked following a service at her church.

“I know I should,” I replied, trying to remember her name.

“I’ve lost ninety pounds since you were here last,” she announced proudly.

No wonder I hadn’t remembered her.

What made her success in slimming possible?

Self-control she had gained through prayer.

In trusting God for strength, she had found the discipline she needed to achieve her weight loss goal and knowing I had written on the subject was eager to tell me of her desired accomplishment.

Not everyone appreciates my long effort to help those struggling with this very personal problem.

“A minister writing about losing weight?” one questioned.

Some do more than question.

While being interviewed on a call-in radio talk show, I was scolded soundly by a listener who called to complain about my Biblical approach to weight loss.  She accused me of using valuable time and effort to teach concepts on a subject in which God has no interest.

At one time, I would have agreed with this angry caller.

Now I know I was wrong.

God is interested in helping us overcome every problem we face.  Since He cares about flowers, clothing them with beauty (Matthew 6:28-30), we can be sure He cares about our health, our appearance and all of our other needs.  If we mean more to our Heavenly Father than fowl or flowers, He must be interested in all the problems that eat away at us, taking away the joy of living.

A friend of mine had such a severe weight problem that at nineteen he was confined to bed.  He weighed 750 pounds and spasmodic weight loss efforts were but temporary fixes.  In the early hours of one morning, he stared at the ceiling and said, “Lord, I’m impossible.  Make me possible!”

The next morning my friend found strength enough to walk across his room and shortly after that was able to walk across the yard.  He then committed himself to discipline in eating and exercise, which over time enabled him to lose six hundred pounds.

Richard Ely, a busy pastor, wrote to me saying he had found success in losing weight through walking.  He said he had to admit that his weight problem had been spiritual and by the time his letter arrived his faith commitment had enabled him to lose fifty pounds.  Describing his new way of life, he said, “I’ve discovered the time walking is a precious time when I can talk and listen to the Lord and enjoy the beauty of His creation.”

On the wall of my study are the words: “God can move your mountain.”  Name your mountain and God can move it!  He moves hills and bumps in the road too.

Satchel Paige, the winning pitcher and baseball diamond philosopher, gained a national reputation for his widely circulated rules for successful living.  The most remembered of these was, “Don’t look back.  Something may be gaining on you.”

Satchel’s pitch to let the past be past was good advice.  Too many of us allow yesterday’s failures to steal today’s joy and cancel tomorrow’s opportunities.

Does this mean we’re to voluntarily embrace total amnesia?

Of course not!

Some memories are positive, motivating and faith building, but there are also events and experiences of the past that are best forgotten.  When remembered, some past blunders have negative effects on us, even producing unwanted guilt, bitterness and depression.  In these cases, heeding Satchel’s “Don’t look back” can enable us to turn the page on negatives of the past and get on with faith filled living.

Here are some examples:

DON’T LOOK BACK AT SINS THAT HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN.

Divine forgiveness through confession of our sins erases all guilt, assuring a clean slate for the future.  When God forgives, he places the past behind us forever and turns away all accusing fingers.

Today, complete forgiveness can be difficult to grasp.  Banks, the government and many businesses have access to great numbers of facts about us all.  Computers store information regarding every late payment and difficulty in paying off a loan may haunt a prospective borrower for years, even though he has since cleared up the old account.

How different our Lord is!

Sins confessed to Him are immediately forgiven.  And no cosmic computer contains any remaining record against us.

DON’T LOOK BACK AT DEFEATS THAT GET YOU DOWN.

Only those who have never attempted tough tasks have escaped failure.  And it is far better to try and fail than never to try at all.

DON’T LOOK BACK AT DECISIONS THAT CAN’T BE CHANGED.

Some live their lives in “if only” land, constantly second-guessing themselves, wondering how things would have turned out if they had chosen a different fork in the road, but such wishful thinking is a waste of time.  God loves us and promises to meet us where we are in spite of past blunders.   Responding to His love will make the past be past, the present pleasant and the future fantastic.

DON’T LOOK BACK AT OLD CONFLICTS THAT MAKE YOU BITTER.

Looking back to past problems can resurrect enmities that should have long been put away.  Thinking through a bitter confrontation of the past can spoil a perfectly good day.

Paul, the apostle, chose to forget the things that were past lest they hinder his present progress toward the goal of becoming what God wanted him to be.