Dangers of Looking Back

In a time for our congregation to have so much to look forward to, there is a temptation for us to look back on the past and make a comparison. The problem with looking to the past is that we tend to romanticize it, and make it out to be so much better than it actually was. This creates a problem of comparison in which the present will never live up to the glorified past. This is especially true when we look to face hard times and situations that make us greatly uncomfortable.
Think about the Israelites when they had just come out of Egyptian captivity (Exodus 14). They were in the wilderness just beginning their journey when the Egyptians realized they had let go of their entire workforce, and they were determined to get them back. The Israelites had see great wonders and miracles from God, but when the armies of Egypt were seen in the distance they quickly glamorized their life in Egypt. They begin to remember their fair masters, filled bellies, and thought it would be better to serve Egypt than to die in the wilderness. In that moment looking back, all the Israelites could see was that slavery looked better than death. They had forgotten what God had done to bring them to that point because all they could see was the unknown.
We tend to do the same thing when placed into a situation where there is a variable of the unknown. It makes us panic and look back to our past to comfort ourselves in a diluted romanticized view of what actually was. So how do we fight this? Moses gave the children of Israel the answer, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord which he will work for you today (Ex. 14:13).” We have to have a full faith in God that he will lead us forward with an established future that will protect us and provide us each with the opportunity to serve him in the best way possible.