I know hindsight is 20/20 and all that, but I've never really felt the truth of that as strongly as when I read the Bible stories about the Israelites. If you're not familiar with the specific history I'm talking about, let me give you a quick synopsis. The Israelites were held captive by Egypt and forced into slavery for decades. Through all this time, they begged God to free them from the Egyptians, to get them out of slavery and into a place of their own. So what did God do? He freed them from the Egyptians...yet they hadn't even gotten to the end of their first day out of captivity when they started complaining about the obstacles in their way. God took care of that obstacle, and they stopped whining. Until the next day. God took care of that obstacle. They found something else to whine about the next day/week/month. For 80 years, they kept this up, one thing after another they found to complain about, over and over again.
I know there are an infinite number of lessons to be learned from their experiences, but I've been pondering it all from the perspective of "the present." In our society today, and in recent Western cultures, we are taught to live in the present, to be fully present in the moment in which you find yourself, to not worry about yesterday or tomorrow, just live for today. And there is so much truth to that, yes. But I've found there is also the danger, as there is with anything good, to go overboard and turn a good thing/concept into an out-of-balance bad thing.
For example, if you look at the Israelites from the perspective of living in the present...they didn't have the 20/20 aerial view of their lives that we do. They just lived fully in the present. They lived each day to the fullest they could...seemingly without any recollection of the recent past or the promises they'd been given for the future. This tunnel vision led them to make choices that basically plopped them right in the middle of feedback loop after feedback loop of similar situations as they kept refusing to learn from their previous go-arounds. So, the result? Two entire generations of people wasted their lives literally going in circles in the desert because they so firmly believed in living in the present.
When the third generation finally made it to the place of their own God had promised them almost 100 years prior, know what they did? When they crossed the Jordan River and entered the promised land, they set up enormous towers of rocks in the middle of the river bed. Why the heck do that? They anticipated that question from their children and their children's children..."what are those rocks doing out there in the middle of the river, Grandpa?" That third generation wanted a way to remind themselves of the past and of the future they almost didn't get to see so that they would always remember to live the present with gratitude and faith. Gratitude for what God had done for them every step along the way, and faith in what He committed to do in the future.
In order to live successfully in the present, the past and future must be taken into account.
As I look back over the last two years of the desert of my life, I am building my own rock towers. Since I don't have a river to build them in, I'm using my journal and Squish's journal, writing out in detail what God has done for us and leaving a legacy of faith for Squish that she can count on Him to be there for her every step of the way, in good or bad, light or darkness, clarity or complete confusion. He has proven Himself in every way to be faithful, even when we are faithless, stupid, stubborn or just plain scared out of our minds.
With that kind of legacy to hold onto from our past combined with faith in the Holder of the future, I believe we can both live fully and successfully in the present...today, no feedback loops needed.
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