I Praise God for my Past, But I am not Defined By It!

Introduction

I praise God for my past, but I am not defined by it. I’m thankful for what God has brought me out of and I reminisce on the good times as well as the trials but I just do not resemble what I have been through. Moses and the Israelites spent time in the wilderness but the wilderness was never their home. We may have a room at the extended stay of our past but it should never become a permanent home.

Understand something, after any triumph or victory had been enjoyed it was natural to sing a hymn of praise to God in thanksgiving. What have you conquered this morning, what triumph in Jesus’ name have you had this week. Every triumph deserves praise, especially when we the enemy is on our heels and our future seems dim God provides an blessing that no one else but God could provide. O give us help against the adversary, For deliverance by man is in vain.

There is definitely a blessing in the storm. The true blessing is the fact that I’m not defined by the storm nor the damage of the storm.

I Praise God for my Past

The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea:

My past was filled with people that did not want me to make it out of my wilderness but God said otherwise. Moses and the Israelites were trapped on every side and God opened up the sea. Not only did they pass through but the enemy was drowned in the blessing of God’s people.

For such is God, Our God forever and ever; He will guide us until death.

Your past is confusing, it is wilderness filled, it was a period of rebellion and spiritual disorientation. Even if you are in that place right now, find the triumph and praise God for that.

Moses sang this song still in the wilderness, we can never believe we will praise God in Canaan if we cannot praise him in the wilderness. Sometimes the best praise comes out when we have no idea how tomorrow is going to turn out.

The Lord is my strength and son, and he has become my salvation.

When you realize that because of God your enemies do not matter, your past no longer has power over you, and people can no longer dictate your progress you realize why God is to be praised, why God is to be exalted.

Depending on the context praise has multiple meanings. In this chapter this praise means song of praise in regard to deeds that are praiseworthy.

What deeds are praiseworthy, “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; And the choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea.

When God sets up your triumph all you have to do is walk in the direction he is sending you. We get caught up when we go through our triumph just to walk back in the same direction we came from.

Remember not the former things nor consider the things of old. Behold I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

If you did something last night, it is never too soon to shift gears and move in a different direction.

Moses and company were not defined by the bondage in Egypt, they needed to be defined by the their God given destination.

Let God Handle the Enemies of the Past

Verse 7 states “And in the greatness of Your excellence you overthrow those who rise up against you; You send forth Your burning anger, and it consumes them as chaff.

We do not have to waste time on the past, and the enemies of the past.

The enemy said, I will pursue meanwhile God said I will protect.

The enemy said, I will overtake and God said I will overcome.

The enemy said I will sabotage your success and God said they cannot sabotage anything they did not give to you.

The problem with people who are fixated on your past is that they cannot see you for anything but what you used to be. It is not meant for them to see you as anything else. We cannot get caught up with the way other people look at us, especially if all they see us for is the past we used to belong to. Let God handle them, and you keep pressing toward Canaan.

In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you from the evil one.

Because God has guarded us, because God has eliminated my enemy because God has allowed me to overcome my past I praise his holy name.

Who is like You among the gods, O Lord? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders?

No one is equal to God, and he can present you as innocent in the midst of a guilty past. He does things above what we could imagine. God allows us to walk away from our bondage, to walk to the wilderness, just to be led to our promise land.

If we never walk away from what has us in bondage we will never reach our blessing of the promise land!

Conclusion

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

Moses had the ability to sing praises unto God because in the wilderness he could not depend on nothing or anyone but God.

When we depend on God we can truly be led by him. In the wilderness they had no choice, often times coming out of our past and depending on God rather than these things of the world it can leave us bitter, confused, frustrated but understand God is there to help you move through the red sea on dry ground just to drown you past behind you.