In this long passage we see the people of Israel praying to God. Most of the time, when prayers and speeches are made in the Bible, they are accompanied by a long summary of the history of Israel because people did not own copies of Bible as we today. Therefore, the summary of what God had done for them in the past was to remind people of their great spiritual heritage and the promises of God. My brother, my sister, when you pray, remember your personal history, because it can definitely help you avoid repeating past mistakes as much as it can help you to acknowledge the hand of God in your life.
Every believer should always be grateful to God and seek to serve Him better because He fills us every day with His immeasurable blessings, whether we see them or not. Thus it is important to always revisit our past. When we know where we come from and recognize that if the Lord had not intervened, we perhaps would no longer be on this earth, or we would not be the person we are today, my friend our behaviour and our character will automatically change… we will humble ourselves! In fact, your past is the engine of your spiritual growth, that is why you should learn from your past to become the person God wants you to be.
Unfortunately, many people live in their painful past, the one that causes sadness in them and breaks them instead of building them. No, your past is there to remind you of how Jesus took you out of your Egypt, when you were still a slave to your sins. That’s it! And as you remember this, it should strengthen your faith in Christ who freed you from the slavery of sin because “we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin” (Romans 6: 6). Also, do not take for granted all the blessings which God has showered you with. The sad reality is that many believers end up forgetting the Lord once they are blessed (verse 28), and as they forget Him, they also forget their past. And when comes a new test, despair also quickly shows up. This is normal: that was what Israel used to do! Yes, my friend, the history of Israel is here to remind us not to make the same mistakes. As you see what happened to them, look at your own life. Do your blessings make you thankful to God and draw you closer to Him, or do they make you feel self-sufficient and forgetful of God? It’s the way you react to your past blessings that will strengthen your faith but also show the Lord how much you really love Him. Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.