"Don't Push the Button!"

“Don’t Push the Button!”

Karen and I do most of our TV watching from taped shows so we can zip through the commercials and parts we don’t want to see as well as go back to words or scenes we may have missed the first time. So the rewind button comes in handy by saving time and enabling us to get “the whole story” to keep us from drawing unwarranted conclusions.

Football great-turned-evangelist Bill Glass told of a team meeting in which the films of his team’s most recent game were viewed. To his chagrin one clip showed his missing a tackle he should have easily made. The coach ordered the play to be shown again with the comment, “Let’s see if Bill makes the tackle this time.” The film could have been rewound many times but the outcome couldn’t be changed. But the value was the opportunity to correct a mistake to minimize the chances of its happening again.

You and I have a rewind button in our heads that causes us to relive negative thinking and actions. (I know firsthand how this works.) Much as we might wish we’d done differently we can’t change the past (revisionist history notwithstanding). Our archenemy Satan is well aware of the presence of the rewind button in our lives and is a master of knowing when to tempt us to push it, usually when we’re in a vulnerable time so he hits us when we’re down (remember he’s not a fair fighter). What can we do when this happens? As with any difficult situation, our first line of defense is God’s Word (isn’t this what Jesus used when He was tempted in the wilderness?—see Matthew 4:1-11). With God’s help I’ve been able to better recognize when my “thinkin’ becomes stinkin’” and head it off at the pass by concentrating on Scripture which the devil can’t overcome. Here are a couple of especially helpful passages which I use often:

   “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

   “…Whatever is true…noble…right…pure…lovely…admirable—if anything is excellent or praise-worthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8).

Rick Warren once said, “God never wastes a hurt.” And the lessons we learn from our struggles in the past will stay with us and enrich our lives for the future. But let’s be sure to listen when God says, “Don’t push the button!”

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan