I remember hating the proverbial phrase, “Life goes by faster the older you get.” What may be worse is the truly original warning to “enjoy now, because you’re in the best years of your life.”

I still kind of hate them. I’m almost certain the first one is true, but I don’t fully agree with the second.

This whole year has been the fastest of my life. It’s been wonderful. It’s been hard. It’s been weird. I’m thankful for all of it, I’ll miss some of it and I’m glad I’m not stuck in it.

While I think it’s all perfectly fine to reflect on a year gone by, I know it’s not biblical to worship the past.

I have one of those apps that notifies me every day and shows me my life via social media posts and iPhone pictures — since Instagram is such an accurate representation of my life — from a year ago, two years ago, five years, etc. I recently found a particularly hilarious picture of myself from my freshman year of college, and I couldn’t help but think, “I am so glad that only lasted a year.” It’s amazing how drastically trends change in just a few short years. Yikes!

Then there are other times when nostalgia gets the best of me. I found a picture from this time last year. I remember exactly how I felt in that picture — simply happy — and I wanted to be back in that place. In retrospect, I was (and I’ll be frank) dumber than I am now. But yeah, life was easier a year ago. Is it wrong to want ease? Maybe not, but it is wrong to desire and run after comfort before holiness.

I waste my numbered hours wishing I was different, but I forget how quickly things change! I am never satisfied.

What would happen if I spent all of that time praying for an increased love for Christ, for others? Maybe life wouldn’t be easier, but it would be better … more joyful.

Life, with all its annoying paradoxes and frustrating obstacles, is not the be-all and end-all of existence. We were made eternally, so stop believing that you “peaked” in the past.

Run the race before you. Fall on your knees. Pray for what’s to come. The past is behind you; Christ is before you. Always.

By Rebekah