"We don’t always remember accurately."

A thought by Mark Batterson from his book, Win the Day (p. 38). The Crown Publishers Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)

And that can be positive or negative.

Mark says, "Our ability to remember the past is a gift from God, but it comes with a caveat. We don’t always remember accurately. This fact reminds us that memory is both selective and subjective. As such, it can be a blessing and a curse. When we remember yesterday the wrong way, we live a lie. And living a lie undermines our ability to win the day."

He goes on, "Sometimes we misremember—or try to forget—because the past can be incredibly painful. That’s where the second habit—kiss the wave—comes into play. You’ve got to own the past, or the past will own you. How? You have to accurately inventory your past, hiding from nothing. Then you have to own all of it—the good, the bad, and the ugly. It is what it is. Or maybe I should say, it is what it was. You may not be responsible for what happened, but you are response-able."

He continues, "Two people can encounter the same obstacle—a difficult diagnosis, a bitter divorce, or even the death of a loved one—yet come out on the other side very different people. One person owns his or her pain, while the other person is owned by it. One person becomes better, while the other person becomes bitter. The difference? You’ve got to kiss the wave that throws you against the Rock of Ages. You’ve got to come to terms with the pain that has made you who you are."

He then says, "God comes to us disguised as our lives! Every circumstance, from the greatest of joys to the deepest of sorrows, is an opportunity to discover new dimensions of God’s character. Instead of trying to change the past, which is impossible, what if we leveraged its lessons to change ourselves? Any obstacle you encounter is not the enemy; the obstacle is the way."

Let's make them our friends, okay?

Yes, yes!