Flashbacks Do you have 'em? I do.

[Neighbor]

Though I wouldn't say  my life is flashing before me, I do have an amazing number of flashbacks. What of you?  What might they be all about?

Mine are  a litany of people mostly. I have been led by God to meet and be affected by so many individuals as I ride backwards along the pathways of life's adventures.  Seeing where I have been  but never quite seeing where I am going to next, or even now.

On the one hand  what is immediately forward  is an unknown, but what has been that I can see so clearly in flashbacks, snippets of life memories give me an awesome confidence in what does lay ahead. For when has God failed in my life, when has he abandoned me?  Never and never!

God's provision is always perfect for my need, like manna with steak sauce on it for  flavor. What is my need except to not be so poor as to resent Him, nor so rich as to not know my need of Him.

The many  saints God has brought into my life over these several decades bless me to this very day, and yes fill my mind with some awesome and entertaining flashbacks; not as an end result, but as a complementing encouragement to today's adventure as I continue to ride facing backwards along the narrow pathway that is eased and leveled for my sojourn by God.

Do you have comforting flashbacks, or one's that entertain you, that  provide you with joyous confidence in the day at hand?

Care to share of any? Of one maybe?

[Marathoner]

8 hours ago, Neighbor said:

Care to share of any?

Encouraging one another in the Lord is always in season. That's what I focus upon, brother.

How can I forget the day when my adopted mother's heart of stone softened? The Lord promised what I could neither grasp nor conceive of; the moment she learned that I belonged to Christ, all of her hatred was unleashed upon me. It was my first test in remaining silent before an accuser, even one whom I had set aside my own life for. That was what made the treatment I received bite so deeply: I remained by her side when everyone else had literally fled, family and her own children in particular. They all had condemned her and due to the fact that they were Christians, she held this against me. Christians were phonies in her estimation, for their walk didn't mirror their talk. 

She did her upmost to chase me off. Blasphemy, taunting, mocking, calling me worthless and useless, but I remained silent and continued to serve her anyway. I can assure the reader that this wasn't my own idea... no, this was what the Spirit instructed me to do. It wasn't easy but focusing upon Him made it possible. I just pressed on, never responding in kind nor running away...

And then the day came when she approached me in tears. She seized my shoulders and cried out, "I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you love me!", and then held me tight while she wept. The Lord had promised to bless her before her days upon this earth came to an end. He kept that promise. I remember this often. 

[Neighbor]

1 hour ago, Marathoner said:

The Lord had promised to bless her before her days upon this earth came to an end. He kept that promise. I remember this often. 

What an awesome flashback to be blessed having often.

[Ray12614]

Certainly I have 'flash backs' But mine are normally those times that I have failed to act properly when in an leadership crisis at my 2 local churches. Once I failed as an elder to bring confromtation to a pastor who needed to be brought to his senses. Instead of confronting him as an elder, I simply ran away and left the church. My son who was still there ended up confronting the pastor before his board, and as predicted, the board sided with the pastor regarding his moral failures, and ended up leaving too. At least my son accomplished what I failed to do. Currently the church is in decline and the pastor is dealing with severe health issues. It appears that God is handling the issue for the sake of His people who are still there.

The second time, I was on a speaker phone and made an comment that was taken in a way that I did not mean, but, ended up hurting 2 dear saints as they listened. Unintentional . . . but . . . the results were the same.

I have touched many people over my 40 years of serving Jesus . . . most for the good . . . and others not so much for the good as in my younger days I struggled with sin in my life, which bled over into affecting entire congregations of people I loved and never wanted to hurt. There are many people who I helped along the way of my life, and some I just can't remember their names, but, occasionally they show up in chance encounters saying that they appreciated something about me . . . but that is very occasionally.

As far as pivotal moments in my life . . . marriage, family, deaths, and occupations, yes, many times I relive those moments at night in dreams. Some good. Some bad which fall into the category of nightmares . . . 

So my life's experiences with accompanying flash backs are a mixed bag so to speak . . . 

Ray . . . 

[D. Adrien]

Maybe Onward Christian Soldier was written for such times.

1 Onward, Christian soldiers, 
marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
going on before!
Christ, the royal Master,
leads against the foe;
Forward into battle,
see his banner go!

Refrain:
Onward, Christian soldiers,
marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
going on before!

2 At the sign of triumph
Satan's host doth flee;
On, then, Christian soldiers,
on to victory!
Hell's foundations quiver
at the shout of praise;
Brothers, lift your voices,
loud your anthems raise! [Refrain]

3 Like a mighty army
moves the church of God;
Brothers, we are treading
where the saints have trod;
We are not divided;
all one body we,
One in hope and doctrine,
one in charity. [Refrain]

4 Onward, then, ye people,
join our happy throng,
Blend with ours your voices
in the triumph song;
Glory, laud, and honor,
unto Christ the King;
This thro' countless ages
men and angels sing. [Refrain]

[Coruscating]

On 7/27/2024 at 2:42 PM, Neighbor said:

Do you have comforting flashbacks, or one's that entertain you, that  provide you with joyous confidence in the day at hand?

Care to share of any? Of one maybe?

I have flashbacks so often, the past comes with such intensity that I can see it, smell it. It is painful to see how much can change forever without a warning. It is this feeling of: I lived that everyday, until one day it ended forever and, in the last time that I was living it, I didn't even know it would never happen again. I am referring to things like: the last time my parents, my siblings and I shared a meal together when we were young, or church friends that I thought I would see again in our summer camping but who never returned. Stuff like that. My heart shrinks as I have those flashbacks, but God inflates it again.

I do have a comforting flashback. It is when it rains. Flashbacks of when I was little and walked everywhere with my mother, who didn't drive. I remember how even with all the discomforts of rain, tiredness, boredom, how I felt safe and comforted by her, without words, or promises (from her), or complaints (from me). I still feel that comfort with those flashbacks: the dark clouds, the uncomfortable atmosphere, cars throwing us water with their tires, me under a pink umbrella, dressed with a pink trench coat, just holding her hand, with a steady step, in complete trust that at some point we would get to a good place. This is the picture of comfort to me.

[Marathoner]

The Lord brings certain things to my attention so I won't forget. There is a particular significance associated with forgetting those things which matter the most: I had forgotten the manner in which I was called, and those words that the Spirit spoke, during the long years when I was destitute and intermittently homeless. 

I believed those religious men who judged me in error. I believed that I was accursed and hated by the Lord. Over time I forgot everything, though I wasn't aware that this was due to repeated head injuries. Bits and pieces of my life were lost here and there. I wasn't aware that concussions cause injury to the brain... and I had suffered many of them.

Some of those concussions were very serious --- if it weren't for witnesses, I wouldn't have known they happened. I didn't remember what happened during an automobile accident.

I didn't remember that my head slammed into a large propane tank when I fell out of a house. I don't recall a steel beam meeting my head in traumatic fashion. I was knocked senseless to the ground. And so on.

Forgetting was my name for a very long time, and the Lord knew this well. Nothing is hidden from His sight after all. This was why, when the Lord spared me from the grave, He unfurled time and space like a scroll before my eyes. Everything I had forgotten was returned to me. The memories were always there but they were fragmented... thus making me forget entirely. 

He revealed the truth of how I had suffered brain injury over years, and that the recent illness which almost ended my time on earth inflicted even more. It was why I could barely speak a word nor focus without His power and will. I was stunned by all of that for what seemed like forever...

Until He directed my attention to something else: my right hand was swelling up like a balloon. It was broken during my fall that day. It was broken, the Lord said, and it will serve as a memorial of what He had done that day so I will never forget.

Here's what the Lord declared I would remember whenever I look at my misshapen right hand: 

"The Lord delivered me with a mighty hand, for my own was broken."

How fitting! We are broken and weak, but the Lord is strong. When we are weak, the Lord is strong; power is perfected in weakness. 

Edited July 29, 2024 by Marathoner

[Coruscating]

@Marathoner Often when I read your posts, someone starts peeling onions next to me. It is a phenomenon!

You are truly a Marathoner.

Edited July 29, 2024 by Coruscating
typo

[Vine Abider]

I must confess that when I read the title of this thread, I immediately thought of a different kind of "flashback."    (which exposes some of my old man's life)

[Marathoner]

5 minutes ago, Vine Abider said:

I must confess that when I read the title of this thread, I immediately thought of a different kind of "flashback."    (which exposes some of my old man's life)

To be fair, I would re-live traumatic events from my life for many years which are also known as "flashbacks." So, there is that to consider. 

It would also be good to point out that even now we can (and do) endure trauma, though we might refer to that differently. What's the difference between the old man and the new man?

The Spirit both informs and dwells with the new man, of course. The "old man" was lost in the darkness of this world.