Last week, I walked behind a little boy holding his mother’s hand. His feet stumbled over and over, but mom’s tight grip kept him from falling. He was plenty capable of walking, yet he tripped because he couldn’t take his eyes off of me. I suppose my pink coat distracted him and kept him from looking where he was going. If not for his mom, he’d be flat on his face. Been there, done that; it’s not fun. Don’t look back, you aren’t going that way and you just might trip and skin your knees.
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” Philippians 3:13 NIV
Straining
Don’t even ask me how to forget. I have no idea. If God didn’t have a firm grip on me, I’d be laying face down in misery. But I do know this, if I keep looking back, I’ll never move forward. Staring at what makes us miserable, just feeds the misery. Trust me, I know it’s hard to let go, but you have to make a choice and take some steps to move in the right direction.
If you keep looking back, you'll never move forward Click To TweetSomething new
There’s a verse that keeps popping up, so I wrote it on an index card to remind myself,
“Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it?” Isaiah 43:19 HCSB
Can I just admit, my first reaction was, “No Lord, as a matter of fact I don’t see. I don’t know what you’re doing.” Maybe, just maybe, that’s because I’m looking back. It’s impossible to see what’s right in front of us if we are distracted by what’s behind us, but like the Israelites, we complain about what is lost and forget to look ahead.
“We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt.” Numbers 11:5 NLT
Seriously? You were mistreated slaves in Egypt. Why in the world do you want to go back there? God is taking us to the promised place of His sweet provision. Let’s turn our eyes His direction in holy anticipation of what He is doing. Even when we cannot see it.
Look where you’re going, not where you’ve been
Don’t stumble over the past, God is doing something new. Take hold of Him and He’ll lead you the right way.
“There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.” Isaiah 41:10 MSG
I still can’t see what God is doing, but I see God and that’s all that matters. After all, I guess that’s what faith is; choosing to trust when I cannot see. Thankfully, God’s got a firm grip on my hand, so when I stumble, I don’t fall.
I can so relate to this article. Seems like I spend so much of my time and energy either looking back at what was or questioning what might have been.
I need to focus on the present and what God has for me right now and into the future.
I am so like you, in the fact that I typically do not see what He is doing currently and where that might be leading me.
Faith and trust!!!!! I know God often looks at me and says: Oh he of little faith!
Thanks so much for shari g the words of encouragement t to keep looking ahead and holding on to Gods hand to keep from falling flat on my face.