Recently, the term, “I’ve got your back” took on a new meaning.

This week, Jan and I were able to attend a church service where I was not scheduled to preach. It was a refreshing change. During worship, I saw an image of Jesus. He came up behind a child unannounced and began to walk in comedic lockstep. Jesus was really close behind the child. There was no space between them. Every step the child took forward the Lord mirrored those steps with His.

At first, the child did not realize Jesus was there. Everyone watching the scene unfold began laughing with joy as they witnessed this unusual expression of love. At some point, the child felt the bump of Jesus’ legs and turned around to see Him. Both Jesus and the child began laughing together as they continued to move along in this joy-filled walk. The image repeated in my mind like a short video clip programmed to loop over again and again. Then the Lord spoke the interpretation to me.

This is how the Lord wants you to view your past. He will slip up behind you and press His life next to yours, so close that your walk together will appear as though two had become one. Jesus does this close-in kind of work to help us see our past through His presence, not through our failures or even our success. He doesn’t blind us to the past. He simply requires the past to be seen through the filter of His presence.

Some of you have been turning around to look at your past failures without seeing Jesus and it is affecting your ability to move forward. He has always been there, but your pain has numbed your ability to feel the loving bumps of His presence. You believed you were the only one who had your back. You have attempted to self-protect every step of your journey out of a sense of abandonment. This has robbed you of your joy. 

A great joy is about to arrive. You will feel the bump of His presence and turn around to see Him. He will invite you to walk with Him like the child I saw in the vision. In the future, when you turn around to look at your past and you will only see Jesus. This will be your healing.