Who I Was

[AnnaBanana]

is not who I am now.

I just had to share this.

So today, I ran into someone who I used to spend a lot of time with... okay, I’ll be honest, my ex-fiancé. It was quick, short, and honestly a break through moment for me.

Even though I knew the Lord during our relationship, I am no longer the person that I was when I was with him. But the strange thing is, that stood out most to me, is when I looked into his eyes, I noticed that they hold so much history in them... history and reflections of who I used to be.

Can the Lord do this? Can the Lord use someone and make you become so close to them and then have you become strangers again only to look at that person and be reminded of how far you have come in your relationship in Christ?

Also, here’s another question, why does that happen? How does someone who you used to know everything about and share almost everything with become no different than a stranger?

A little off the topic but main point is, The Lord revealed to me how much He has changed my heart and self in just a short while.

 

[OPC'n]

Is he following you? Didn't you move recently from Florida? Or did you used to live where you are now and that's where you knew him? Super weird (creepy) if he's from Florida and you ran into him where you live now.

 

[AnnaBanana]

No lol definitely not following me. I came back to Florida this past weekend, and I saw him at a local concert. We have mutual friends (that live in Florida).

 

[JimmyH]

From Wikipedia ; John Newton

• I am not what I ought to be — ah, how imperfect and deficient! I am not what I wish to be — I abhor what is evil, and I would cleave to what is good! I am not what I hope to be — soon, soon shall I put off mortality, and with mortality all sin and imperfection. Yet, though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be, I can truly say, I am not what I once was; a slave to sin and Satan; and I can heartily join with the apostle, and acknowledge, "By the grace of God I am what I am."
  • As quoted in The Christian Pioneer (1856) edited by Joseph Foulkes Winks, p. 84. Also in The Christian Spectator, vol. 3 (1821), p. 186
  • Often paraphrased as I am not the man I ought to be, I am not the man I wish to be, and I am not the man I hope to be, but by the grace of God, I am not the man I used to be."'

 

[VictorBravo]

It's a blessing, Anna. It's one of those things to keep and ponder in your heart.

I've had similar things happen to me.

On the other hand, I had a surprise recently: There was a girl I knew long ago in my pagan college days who was a fellow traveler in all sorts of rebellion. We drifted apart some 40 years ago. I recently ran across some writing by her. It turns out she is (and has been for years) a born-again Reformed Christian.

No, I did not attempt to contact her, but I was delighted in how God works.

 

[beloved7]

I've had similar experiences with people from my past as well. Sometimes it's the reflection from the eyes of another where you are now in contrast to who you once were that brings about the most dramatic self examination.