October 23, 2025 Thursday Thoughts
By the Rev. Dr. Dennis E. Morey
Faith Presbyterian Church
The Plan: Influenced By the Past
If I had only known then, what I know now…there aren’t many who haven’t felt the reality of those words. Looking back we would have done things differently. We would have studied harder, we would have not worked such long hours, we would have painted a second coat, we would have sanded it better, we would have gone just a little further, we would have saved more, we would have loved more, we would have said less and the list goes on. There is no way we could have planned for every possibility and it is not a good idea to keep going over past bad decisions, neglecting the present. However, being aware of our part in past failure can benefit us in planning for what is to come.
Every success and failure whether past or present becomes a part of how we think about the future. Drawing from the successes, we are encouraged and although we may not like to admit it, part of our future successes depend on our past failures and what they taught us. Having lived through getting an F on the geometry quiz becomes part of our motivation to make a better plan by studying before the next test and doing the homework on time. The job interview that went sour can help us have a better interview next time. Getting a ticket for not stopping at the stop sign can help make us more aware of how we are driving. The pains of failure can discourage us and make us never want to try again, or they can help us understand what is required and work better and harder to succeed.
What plan in your life has failed? Has it been in a relationship? Have poor spending habits brought financial failure? How can what you have learned from that failure make you a better planner?
Being able to admit our mistakes is the first step in learning from our mistakes. If we are able to see what part we played in a failed relationship, we will be better equipped to contribute to the success of future relationships or perhaps mend the broken one. Always blaming someone else for failure can never provide us with all the positive learning opportunities the failure had to offer.
God calls us away from our past failures, our past mistakes, and our past sins. Instead of living with the misery of our past and allowing it to make us afraid of the future, God has arranged for us to be forgiven. We are offered the opportunity to admit our sin and go to God asking for forgiveness. Christ has come for the specific purpose of acquainting us with God’s offer.
God’s plan offers us forgiveness, in the death and resurrection of Christ, as a gift to those who will accept it. We are forgiven.
We still have the memory of those failures. We are to remember them and learn from the misery they brought. From that memory we are to plan for the future, a future that includes consulting God about our plans while they are still in the formulation stages.
Have you had your share of failures? Would you like a fresh start? Ask God. Only God can give a new beginning. There is one waiting for everyone who will ask for it.
Being aware of how we should have done things and admitting our part in past failures, brings opportunities to become better at planning for the future.
God has arranged for all his children to have a church home; a place where they can worship God, learn to support each other and practice the love and forgiveness God has extended to them. God doesn’t want any of his children to be homeless. There is a place for everyone. Can you help someone else find the home God has for them, that place where a relationship with God is possible, a place where others enjoy God and one another?
See you here next week for more Thursday Thoughts.
