Living Free From the Past
Lopez Lomong was living in a refugee camp in Kenya when a Catholic group called the Unaccompanied Refugee Minors program brought a large number of the so-called "Lost Boys of Sudan" to America. As it turned out, Lomong was chosen, and after years of living in the worst circumstances he was suddenly taken to America and placed with a family called the Rogers.
Lomong felt very overwhelmed at the whole exchange, and struggled with some guilt over the fact that he was now living in luxury while many of his friends remained in the camp. But he slowly began to adjust to life with the Rogers family, and after remaining quite reserved at first, one day he began to open up a little about his life in the camp.
A Family That Respected Lomong's Past
As he spoke about the dirt and the dust and the dry days, his new Mom commented on how tough that must have been for him. And Lomong writes this: "I could tell she had a lot of questions, but she didn't ask them. This was the first time I had talked about what life was like in the refugee camp. Mom and Dad were very respectful of my past. They never tried to get me to open up about what I'd been through. I didn't want to talk much about it either. The past was the past. I had a new life in America."
I think that the respect that the Rogers family showed Lomong in this area was very special. They could've made it very uncomfortable by asking him about the camp and the life he lived there, but they were respectful and simply tried to help him find a way forward.
I remember once hearing a preacher say that the devil is the one who will bring up your past, while God is the one who will encourage you to look forward. The devil wants to trap you feeling ashamed of your past, but God wants to redeem you and make you a new creation.
Leaving Your Past in the Past: What Philippians 3 Teaches Us
So, two lessons here today: first, do you need to leave your past in the past? Paul says in Philippians 3: "One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14 NIV11) Don't let the enemy keep you dwelling on your past. If you are in Christ, you are made new, and your past is forgiven. Leave it in the past!
Secondly, are you always dwelling on other people's pasts, instead of leaving them behind? Do you remind people of their past, and refuse to let them move forward? If so, you're acting more like Satan than God.
Lomong was graciously given a new start - and yes, when the time was right, he did revisit his past and find redemption for it in wonderful ways. But his new family never pushed him to live in his past or to talk of it. They respected him enough to walk with him into the future and leave the past behind.
May you and I be forward facing and not backward-facing as we walk with the Lord.
Share in the comments how God has freed you from your past.
Lopez Lomong's American family gave him space to leave his painful past behind rather than dwelling on it - ask yourself today whether you're still carrying something God has already asked you to release.