Ask any of my three daughters about Disneyworld’s Carousel of Progress attraction, and they’ll smile and throw a slight eye roll my way. They’ve all heard a bajillion and one times about how I saw the attraction at age seven at the 1964 World’s Fair.
It’s true my affection for Walt’s attraction began even before it was designed to be a part of Disneyworld’s Tomorrowland.
But today it’s my favorite attraction for another reason.
Inside the attraction’s revolving theater, an audio-animatronic family portrays the evolution of electricity from the 19th century to present.
I love everything about the dramatics (especially Cousin Orville!)
But my favorite part of the Carousel of Progress is the music.
I can barely restrain myself (and often don’t!) from singing along in the theater:
There’s a great big beautiful tomorrow
Shining at the end of every day!
There’s a great big beautiful tomorrow,
And tomorrow is just a day away!
Because it’s true.
For everyone in Christ, there’s a great, big, beautiful tomorrow! When we learn how to let go of the past, we can live in the joy of the truth!
HOW TO LET GO OF THE PAST
Regardless of what we’ve done, thought, or said, in Christ there’s always a new tomorrow. A fresh start. Renewed hope that tomorrow can be better than today.
The truth is, if I thought for a moment that God couldn’t redeem my mistakes and sins, I’d be paralyzed with regret.
I have plenty to be sorry for and ashamed of, and I carried that shame with me until I learned how to let go of the past.
Finally, “I finally admitted all my sins to [theLord] and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, ‘I will confess them to the Lord.’ And [theLord] forgave me! All my guilt is gone” (Psalm 32:5, TLB). Because of what Christ has done, my past is no longer a part of me.
Like the apostle Paul, I learned how to let go of the past because I know God has forgiven me in Christ. My sins (every single solitary bit of my past, no matter how awful or shameful) have been removed.
No regret
Even though Paul considered himself “the worst of sinners,” God forgave him. He showed Paul a new way to live. And, He used Paul’s past to encourage us to let go of our regrets.
Paul didn’t live with regrets. He lived with confidence and hope. He “pressed on” to what was in front of him instead of bemoaning what he’d left behind.
No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
Philippians 3:13-14 (New Living Translation)
In God’s economy, a minus becomes a plus, because what we can’t re-do or undo, God redeems.
HOW TO LET GO OF THE PAST BY SEEING YOURSELF THE WAY GOD SEES YOU
Sometimes what I wear affects how I feel about myself. If I’m overdressed, I feel self-conscious. When I accidentally dress too casually for a special event, I feel embarrassed.
Joshua was an Old Testament high priest who was caught wearing the wrong outfit.
The Bible says Satan was standing right next to him. Accusing him. Calling him out for things he’d done.
Then the Angel showed me (in my vision) Joshua the High Priest standing before the Angel of the Lord; and Satan was there too, at the Angel’s right hand, accusing Joshua of many things.
Zechariah 3:1 (NLT)
Be careful who you listen to
I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard Satan’s whispers plenty of times.
“You’ll never be good enough.”
“You’re a fake.”
“There’s no way to recover from that mistake.”
Joshua was a high priest! Serving God! Yet, like all of us, he was a target of Satan’s accusations.
The more useful we are to God, the more ferociously Satan attacks. He despises our service.
The enemy makes charges against us 24-7, and some of them are likely legit.
Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens,
“It has come at last—
salvation and power
and the Kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters
has been thrown down to earth—
the one who accuses them
before our God day and night.
Revelation 12:10
But here’s the deal. If we’re in Christ, we don’t have to let Satan accuse us of your past. Our past is no longer a part of us. God has forgiven our past and removed it from us.
He has removed our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west.
Psalm 103:12 (Christian Standard Bible)
That’s why it’s time to learn how to get over our past mistakes.
HOW TO LET GO OF THE PAST ONCE AND FOR ALL
So, Satan is going after Joshua, the high priest.
And now the drama escalates.
Joshua discovers he’s wearing the wrong clothes.
Joshua’s clothing was filthy as he stood before the Angel of the Lord.
Zechariah 3:3 CSB
Joshua’s clothes were dirty. And that was unfitting for a priest, who was required to go to great lengths to have every single piece of his garments spotless.
I’ve been there, and I’m not talking about wearing jeans to a fancy party.
I wear guilt that doesn’t belong to me, and it makes me feel dirty. That’s when I’m tempted to make myself look better by doing more. By pretending to be more. Or by covering up my past.
Pick the right outfit
But God didn’t tell Joshua to cover up his filthy clothes, or to get busy cleaning them or proving he was still worthy of being the high priest.
Instead, God told Joshua to take off his dirty clothes.
Then the Angel said to the others standing there, “Remove his filthy clothing.”
Zechariah 3:4a
It’s the same thing God tells us.
Take off the past that has been forgiven. Stop wearing your guilt and shame. It doesn’t belong on you.
When I first realized this glorious truth, it stopped me in my tracks. I sat on the couch in my living room in my home and envisioned myself standing before God, still wearing the shame and guilt from my past. Then, I bowed my head, took hold of an imaginary garment, pulled it over my head, and imagined dropping it to the ground.
By faith, I removed what God said had no place in my life.
Reach down. Pull the shame and guilt of your past up and over your head. And let it fall from you.
LETTING GO OF THE PAST MEANS PUTTING THE RIGHT CLOTHES ON
And turning to Joshua, He said, “See, I have taken away your sins, and now I am giving you these fine new clothes.”
Zechariah 3:4
Now, God handed Joshua a turban.
And, this is glorious…
God had instructed the temple priests to wear specific garments. One of the required pieces was a turban with the enscription Holy Unto the Lord. The turban defined who the priest was.
Holy means set apart. The turban identified the priest as being set apart for God’s use.
The Bible says everyone in Christ has been given a holy outfit to wear as well. When God removed our sin, He exchanged it for the righteousness of Christ.
Because of the righteousness we’ve been given, we are holy unto the Lord. We’re His. Set apart for His use.
What can we ever say to such wonderful things as these? If God is on our side, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son for us but gave him up for us all, won’t he also surely give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? Will God? No! He is the one who has forgiven us and given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? Will Christ? No! For he is the one who died for us and came back to life again for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us there in heaven.
Romans 8:31-34
Amazing grace
Do I understand the mystery of how or why God would do such an amazing thing? No. Why would He give us mercy that we don’t deserve? And why would He take away the punishment we should suffer? I can’t comprehend it.
God’s amazing grace is not something we can explain. But it’s the life-transforming truth we can choose to believe.
HOW TO LET GO OF THE PAST BY STAYING CLEAN
God told Joshua to stay clean.
You’ve been forgiven. Your past is gone. So, don’t go there again.
In a wealthy home there are dishes made of gold and silver as well as some made from wood and clay. The expensive dishes are used for guests, and the cheap ones are used in the kitchen or to put garbage in. If you stay away from sin you will be like one of these dishes made of purest gold—the very best in the house—so that Christ himself can use you for his highest purposes.
2 Timothy 2:20-21 (NLT)
I have a well-used soup bowl in my cabinet with a chipped rim. And every time I eat cereal, I reach for the chipped bowl. In the back of my mind, I’m thinking, “I’ll use the chipped bowl so that if company comes there will be plenty of good bowls still clean.” I wouldn’t dream of serving anything to guests in a chipped bowl! It’s not worthy of company. But it’s okay for common, everyday use.
That’s the point of the scripture. If we want to be used by God in extraordinary ways, we must be worthy vessels. That means we refuse to be contaminated with continual, unconfessed sin.
YOU CAN LET GO OF THE PAST AND BE HAPPY
If you haven’t already given your mistake-filled, sin-filled past to Jesus and let Him wash you clean, you can. You don’t have to stay paralyzed with regret. You can place your past in Jesus’ hands and experience God’s forgiveness. He’ll turn sorrow into joy, chaos into a purposeful design, and loss into gain.
I love the Carousel of Progress. But to be honest, Cousin Orville oughta stop being so grumpy all the time. Perhaps he needs to discover the secret that’s hidden in those song lyrics.
Because what’s true for me is true for you, too.
The past is gone. Tomorrow is a brand new day.
There’s a great big beautiful tomorrow
Shining at the end of every day.
There’s a great big beautiful tomorrow
And tomorrow is just a day away.
