Don't look back!

He was a young man, and I had never seen him running in my neighborhood before.  But on this particular day he was running the same route I was.  I said “hello” to him as he passed, and he responded back with a very focused “hello”.  As he made it several blocks ahead of me I noticed that he kept looking back at something.  I thought there might be a dog loose or something he may have seen that I did not.  As I watched him running, admiring how fast he was going, all of the sudden as he was looking back, he lost his footing.  He went crashing to the ground, hard.  I gasped and took off running quickly to see if he was ok.  As he got up, quite embarrassed, he just said to me, “That will teach me to look back!”  And off he went, brushing himself off.  I never saw this runner again, but I remember this day vividly.  Why?  I don’t know.  But it came back to my mind the other day as I was having my prayer time.  

Have you ever felt like you are stuck in one place, unable to move forward?  Have you cried out to God for an answer feeling like He is not hearing your cry?  I think we have all felt this way at some time in our lives. I sure have.  But what I realized more than ever, just like that runner who fell as he was looking back, is that I will be in the same position if I focus on what is behind me.  I will miss what God has ahead for me if I am constantly reliving my past mistakes and focusing on things that happened years ago.  Have you ever found yourself reliving past mistakes and past hurts like it was only yesterday?  

As I read my devotion this morning I came across this thought, and it reminded me of that runner, and the times I too focused on what was behind me rather than what was in front of me.  

“If we choose to remain in a perpetual state of reliving our bad encounters, trials, mishaps, mistakes and tragic events we have experienced we become handicapped by the very thing we are trying to escape.  It distorts our thinking and paralyzes us from breaking free of faulty mindsets and belief systems.  It then becomes the primary source of the current state of problem or setback that we are encountering; further facilitating a continued fracture point in one’s life.”

How true it is!  You see, where we put our thoughts, our energy, will have great impact on our forward movement and how we walk out our lives.  One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 23:7 “As a man thinketh, so is he”.  It always reminds me to search my heart and find out where my focus really is during those difficult times when I feel overwhelmed.  Am I focused on moving forward, or am I stuck? Am I focused on the Lord?  Or am I focused on figuring it out myself?  Am I focused on God’s promises for my life?  Or am I focused on lies and wrong information?

What you focus on, you give life to.  Where your energy is invested, multiplication occurs.  What you behold you become…

It is easy during the trials in life to forget who we are.  We forget how deeply God loves us and is there for us.  He is passionate about us!  I love the passage 1 Peter 2:9-10.  I have it where I read it often to remind myself of who I am!  It declares God’s heart over His people.  It also provides direction in how to walk out that which He proclaims.  

You are Chosen – Walk with the full understanding that you are cherished and loved.

You are a Royal Priesthood – Walk with an absolute knowledge that you are the sons and daughters of the King.

You are a Holy Nation – Walk embracing the gift of complete and full redemption that is yours in Christ.

You are God’s Special Possession – Walk in confidence knowing that God is for you, that He has made you His own.  That you are fully clothed in His mercy and grace and are positioned under the protective arm of the Father.

An important treasure to keep within your heart is this…It is not about what you don’t have or don’t like.  Guard your heart always.  Remember who you are.  Remember “whose” you are!  

One of my favorite songs of all time, and I will show my age on this one, was a song by Wayne Watson called, “Because of Whose I Am.”  I remember when the words to that song really sank in many years ago and I realized God had a plan for my life and it was good. I was His child and He really cared about me!  As I look back on that day years ago, I see how He meshed all the events in my life, good and bad, to bring me to the place I am today.  Even in spite of my mistakes, He worked miracles! He saw the painting as a masterpiece when all I saw were a bunch of colors running everywhere.  He’s the master painter afterall, I just needed to give Him the brushes.  

Let go of the past.  It doesn’t hold your present. In fact it will rob you of your present.  Don’t miss the miracles of today because your head is turned back.  He’s painting a masterpiece and when you get a glimpse of it.....you will be blown away!  Yes, you my friend are the son and daughter of a master creator!  That just makes me want to shout a big yeehaw!  Anyone want to join me?  Let's remember "whose" we are today!  Journey on my friends....journey on!  Yeeehaw!