Conveyor Belt

“Now she’s writing about a conveyor belt? Is she ok?” Yes! In fact, I’ve been thinking about this concept for awhile now. Come along for the ride.

Life is like a conveyor belt. The kind in a factory that moves a stream of products from one point to another, or the one in the famous scene from The Lucy Show where she and Ethel can’t keep up with the chocolates. The days keep coming, one after another, in one direction – forward.

I’m especially aware of this right now because I’ve been downsizing and going through things I’ve carted around over the years (for more on this, read the ThinkSpace titled “Stuff”). Opening each box is like opening a time capsule of the past. I’ll bet you have some boxes and bins you haven’t opened for a long time too, hoping they’ll just go away (they don’t). We all squirrel these extra nuts away in our tree trunks. Actually, we’re the nuts for keeping them!

Doing this task we’d rather not deal with actually contains an important life lesson. It reminds us that we can’t go backwards in time. Seeing old pictures and trophies and letters and things that bring back memories – both good and bad – are part of our history, but there’s a time to let go. 

Keep the lessons – and learn from them.

Remember and feel the love – then pay it forward.

That’s enough. Notice that neither lessons or love are a physical object.

Going back over the past again and again and keeping it “alive” (whether it was good or bad) is like running down the up escalator. It doesn’t work that way. It’s over. Time moves in one direction – always forward. Always toward eternity.

This concept really hits home when someone you love passes away. I know from experience that it seems unimaginable that life could possibly go on without them. Yet it does. I survived that excruciating first day more than once and the days that followed… You did too. We will again.

We have today. One today at a time. It’s like a box on our life’s conveyor belt that has a 24 hour expiration date.

Fully accepting that truth is a healthy way to live. Freedom from the past makes room to fully live today. Maybe for you that means letting go of physical objects you still have, or cleaning out the “attic” of memories in your mind that aren’t good for you. Or both. The two words that keep repeating in my mind as I go through this process of moving on in my own life are new and more. I’m reminded of these verses in scripture.

God Himself says this to the Israelites in Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV) after He delivered them out of captivity in Egypt and parted the Red Sea so the entire nation could escape:

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.“

In other words, let go and keep moving forward to discover what good things God has planned next!

In Ephesians 3:20 (NLT), the Apostle Paul reminds believers of this:

“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.“

God can do something new in your life (like this Reset Higher project has been for me!) and more than you can imagine. But you can’t go forward looking in the rear view mirror. It’s one or the other. Let Him drive.

I’m going to add one more word: enough. God gave the Israelites manna one day at a time – no more, no less – to build their trust in Him. When we believe in Jesus and accept His forgiveness of our sins, we not only receive eternal life at the end of our “conveyor belt,” God will also include all we need in our “day box” as the Holy Bible says in Philippians 4:19 (NIV):

“And my God will meet all your needs, according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”

Not just some, it says ALL our needs. Our part is to claim His promises by faith. It’s God’s part to keep them because He cannot lie as we read in Hebrews 6:18. I’ve seen Him do this again and again in my own life in personal ways that unmistakably reassure me that He sees me and is with me. Living a life of true faith in God leaves no room for worry or fear. You can trust Him every day.

RESET HIGHER: What will you do with your “day box” today? Will you open it and ask God to show you what He can do that’s new, more, and enough in your life?