I love to take out old pictures, scrapbooks, and videos of my sweet memories. Sometimes, I think about how fast time flies by and how quickly things change. I ponder over my accomplishments and then, I dwell on my mistakes and what might have been if I had done things differently. It’s OK to go down memory lane briefly for a moment of enjoyment, but it’s a waste of thoughts to beat ourselves up because things didn’t turn out like we wanted them to. If we let them, these thoughts can paralyze us, and we will find ourselves unable to move beyond what we perceive were the “good ole days.”
Get Unstuck
There’s a story in the Bible about a woman who was told that life as she knew it was over. She was warned to not look back at where she had been, but to look ahead. The angel states in Genesis 19:17, “…Don’t even look back. And don’t stop in the valley. Run to the hills, where you’ll be safe.” However, she looked back, and as a result, her life was destroyed. I believe God does not want us to get stuck in the past. There is a reason we have two eyes in front of us instead of in the back of our heads. Our God-given vision is in front of us. In addition, in order to follow Jesus, we must pay attention and stay close. Just when we think we have figured out the direction he is going, God will do something different. Through this, he is teaching us to completely trust him and keep moving.
Ponder on the following Scriptures about moving forward:
“The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.”
– Exodus 14:15
“The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain.”
– Deuteronomy 1:6
“Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you”
– Proverbs 4:25
“…I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us..”
– Philippians 3:13-14
PRAY THIS PRAYER:
“I will exalt you, my God and King. I will praise you every day. I will praise your name forever and ever. Forgive me for being preoccupied with my past accomplishments or mistakes. You want me to go from faith to faith and glory to glory. Lord help me to keep moving forward in you. I don’t want to get stuck in the past. Remind me that everything I do is for your glory. It is through you that I live, move, and have my very being. In Jesus’ name – Amen.”
