Who hasn’t missed the old times? Who hasn’t said, “Oh! The good old times”? But did you know that, often, that feeling of nostalgia (that feeling of remembering the past) can be a disguise for the fear you have towards the future?

Some people are frustrated with the present, afraid of the future and tend to wallow in memories instead of preparing for the future and doing something better in the present. They keep reliving the past as if it were a perfect world, which, in fact, never existed.

It’s like the person who goes back to the “ex” syndrome. She ended the relationship because it was not well (it could be that there was abuse, betrayal, lack of attention or lies). But after breaking up, nostalgia hits. The person remembers some good things they experienced. However, this longing is so intense that it makes the person forget all the bad things that happened. So, she resumes the relationship. She comes back to suffer, sometimes even worse.

Nostalgia is the longing for a moment that can never be reproduced again because customs have changed, people have changed…

And in the spiritual life, it is no different. Maybe, you let doubt get into your head because you no longer cry like you used to cry during a prayer. You no longer “feel” this or that when you go to church.

God’s Words, which formerly came as a slap in your face, seem to be repetitive now. But all this does not mean that you are far from God. You have to learn to live this new phase: that of maturity. Don’t go looking for the “ideal” world of the past. These ideas lead many people to trip.

See what the Bible says: “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

Thus, when we live by intelligent faith, we know and believe that the best is ahead (not behind). Intelligent faith makes us use the past intelligently. The past serves as a reference. It serves to not repeat our or other people’s mistakes.

Therefore, be very careful, because maybe you haven’t been living in the present and not planning the future. Wake up! God calls you to new things. Use the past as a reference, but never as a residence. The Holy Spirit gives you this intelligence so that you can live out something better. Stay attentive, because God is acting.

Follow the message above and put it into practice.