By Rev. Dr. Chris Surber

I recently stumbled upon a blog written by a young lady who has decided not to allow her past to define her present and future. The article is entitled “My Birthfather Was a Rapist, But That Doesn’t Define Who I Am.”

When I read the title, I blurted out, “That’s terrible!” After I read the article, I said, “That’s beautiful.”

Monica Kelsey always knew she was adopted, but she didn’t know why. She was 37 when she learned her birth mother had been raped at 17, had struggled with the decision to possibly abort the baby conceived from the rape, and then had decided to have the baby and give her up for adoption.

Monika knows that where you come from doesn’t define where you are going. At least, it doesn’t have to.

Monika is a remarkable woman who has turned the tragedy in the story of her beginning into a ministry bringing hope and life to people today. She is a pro-life speaker, advocating for the lives of unborn babies with questionable futures who are often born with already checkered pasts.

Monika was conceived in rape but she says her life is a gift she has no intention of wasting. After wrestling with the initial pain of the truth about her conception, she asked herself, “How can I take this gift of life that I’ve been given and make a difference?”

According to her writing online, she decided that, rather than be defined by her beginning, she would follow God’s path for her today.

Perhaps you’ve struggled with similar feelings. I have. When I first sensed a call to the pastoral ministry as a shaggy-haired, confused teenager, I remember thinking and even saying out loud to God, “I’m just a messed-up kid with a messed-up history from a messed-up city in a messed-up part of California. God, how can You possibly use me for anything good?”

I was overcome with doubts about my ability to do anything good in the future because of the imperfection of my past. I was defining my present and my future by my past.

Doubts and false beliefs about our past keep us from becoming who God wants us to be today. Our perception of the past robs us of our future.

It doesn’t matter where you’ve come from. We don’t serve a God who lived in the past. We serve a God who is alive today and has a plan for your future.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Don’t live in the past. If your past is checkered, then let it be like a checkered flag used to mark the end of the race. The past race is over. What is God is doing in your life today?

The past informs your present, but it doesn’t define your future. Only God can do that, and He says there is yet hope for tomorrow.

Chris Surber is pastor of Cypress Chapel Christian Church in Suffolk. Visit his website at www.chrissurber.com.