FORGETTING WHAT LIES BEHIND

FORGETTING WHAT LIES BEHIND

Thank you to all who have reached out with warm birthday wishes. I am truly wealthy and blessed because of you.
As I face older age I am also wealthy and blessed because God holds the future in His powerful, loving hands. No matter our age, we do not need to live in the past. God has good plans for us, things yet to accomplish through us. His purpose will be fulfilled as we let go of the past, and become willing to trust Him and follow Him.

“forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil 1:13-14

“Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19

God is always preparing a roadway for us to take, even out of our most painful wilderness seasons. But notice something about God’s promise to lead us forward. A backward focus can actually thwart our future. We must “forget what lies behind” and stop “pondering things of the past.”

God is good at building roadways for us, even out of the wilderness. But He could build us an eight lane freeway to move forward on, and His blessings can be “springing forth” all around us, and we can miss it all if we are looking backward, wallowing in the sorrows of our past.

There’s been a lot of hard stuff in my life during the past decade. As I move forward from living three score years now, I am very fortunate to be alive. Yet even if the Lord had decided that my work in this world was finished during the last decade, and it was time to call me home, that would still not represent a defeat for me.
God is never defeated and His plan for each of His dearly loved children can never be thwarted. Even if we get 100 years in this world, it is still very brief in the scheme of things. The fulfillment of our highest purpose, the beginning of the highest adventure our our lives, begins in God’s presence.

I’m convinced that no matter how thick the darkness might be for any of us right now, nor how permanent the wilderness may feel, King Jesus indeed holds the future in His mighty hands, and He can make up for the years (and the decades) that the locust has eaten in our lives (Joel 2:25).

Your life may be a train-wreck right now (I’ve been there). All that is required to move forward is to believe in Jesus as the God who made us, to receive the forgiveness of our sins which cost Him much (His blood), but which costs us nothing, and to follow Him as He leads us toward our future, obeying all that He will instruct us to do, decision by decision, step by step.

Caleb was 85 when he received his most important marching orders in this world. Actually, he demanded to have it. He asked Joshua to assign him the hardest battle for Israel. He wanted to take the hill country for God (Joshua 14:12). No matter who you are, nor how sorrowful your past, there is no doubt that King Jesus has a plan, the best plan for your future.

Does it seem impossible for you to move forward from where you are? Are there just too many obstacles ahead, including the limitations of your age, your finances, your own health and strength? The real question is, will you focus on those obstacles, will you keep pondering things of the past, or will you lift up your eyes to behold Jesus, the mighty King, the One for whom nothing is ever impossible?

The most astonishing thing of all is the reason King Jesus will cause all these good things to “spring forth” for us. Though we all have many failures, faults and sins in our past and in our lives even now, we are honored in His sight and He loves us, not because we are good, but because He is good.

What a great God we serve.

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are Mine!
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you.
“For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
Since you are precious in My sight,
Since you are honored and I love you.” Isaiah 43:1-4