Celebration: The Key to Anchoring Your Reboot

It can be easier to look behind than to look ahead. It’s human nature. We so often worry about past mistakes, or reminisce about “how things used to be,” that we can’t look ahead to positive outcomes possibly only steps away!

When looking behind at our past, it can be easy to grumble and complain like the Israelites did in their desert years, “Oh, in Egypt we had leeks and onions,” they moaned. The sad reality is, if they were perfectly honest (and we were as well), the “Good Ole Days” weren’t quite as good as remembered. The Israelites lived 400 years as an enslaved nation, regardless of the menu. Their previous years certainly don’t seem like “Happy Days” to me!

So, what can we do to stop looking back and instead look forward? We can celebrate. Celebration is an essential step to experiencing and sustaining a successful reboot. When you experience tough times, it can be hard to believe that life can turn around—but we must have something to cling to, something in God’s Word that helps us draw hope and inspiration.

Jeremiah proclaimed an unusual message from God to the Israelites as they were heading into 70 years of captivity,

“For I know the plans I have for you, to bless you and not curse you, to give you a hope and a future.” (Jer. 29:11)

We won’t know until heaven what these captive Israelites thought about this seemingly poorly timed message, but it was something to celebrate and cling to as they endured seven decades of slavery.

Even though God warned this stiff-necked people about the punishment that they would receive if they did not repent…He still showed up to paint a hope-filled future by giving them a firm foundation on which to build their tomorrows. God also instructed them to have sons and daughters, and to pray for the city of their captivity…and as it prospered so would they.

This is another anchor to build a reboot on. Instead of griping about their past, they now received a new assignment from God with specific instructions to obey as captives in enemy territory. So, using the anchors God provided, they could celebrate that He did not abandon them, and that they could look forward—not backward—to a brighter future.

Philippians 4:13 encourages me with these empowering words, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” For me, daily seeing my framed first real estate column on my office wall causes me to give credit to God—as well as reminds me to have confidence in who He made me to be and attempt new endeavors trusting His Presence.

What about you? What do you post on the wall, social media, or in your man/female cave that proclaims your victories? We’d love to know. Drop us an email at info@yourefreshedlife.com.