Forward Focus

 Many of have past regrets. Sins we committed or omitted. Poor choices we made. Bad decisions that led to less than desirable consequences. Here is the thing. We cannot go back and redo the past. There are no do overs. We don't to play a mulligan like golfers often do. The past behind us. It cannot be undone. Paul wrote to forget about what lies behind and to press on to what lies ahead. [Phil 3:12-14]

There is God's redemptive grace. There are new chances to begin again or try a whole new course, but there are no opportunities to undo our past. It is fixed forever. We can learn from the past and our mistakes. We cannot go back and rewrite our history. Why waste the time focusing on it relentlessly?

Many get stuck in the past. They live with regret and remorse. They become enslaved to a past they cannot undo. Like a car stuck in the mud, they spin the tires of their lives faster and faster only deepening the rut. They get so bogged down they lose all hope of better days. There is a reason why the windshields on vehicles are bigger in the front than the back. The focus has to be on what is ahead. We only glance in our rearview mirrors. 

To help us forget about the past we need to be forward focused. What is the next calling from God for us, the next faith challenge He invites us to accept, and the next forward focused agenda He has ordained for us. When we are forward focused we are able to see the needs around us. When we live looking over our shoulders we miss the needs all over the place. 

To live forward focused means to trust God and follow Him for what is ahead instead of staying stuck in the past. When I think about all God wants to do just around the next bend it excites me. He is always working. See [John 5:17]. He does new and fresh things. See [Is 43:18-18]. We are to prayerfully seek Him for what is ahead and then trust and obey what He reveals. 

Forward focus applies to every area of our lives. It can apply to us personally. Where does God want us to pinpoint our focus in the days ahead? How will this next trip around the sun be any different than the previous ones? What does God want us to believe Him for? It can also apply to our families. How can we grow closer to our family? I just got off the phone with a husband and wife who took their family on vacation over the break. They talked about coming home a day early but decided not to do so. The husband commented, "This is the one time a year where we can get everyone together in our camper and they don't have other places to be or things to do. We sit around and play games together as a family." That is forward focused. 

We can also be forward focused in our finances. How can we better stewards of what God has entrusted to us? How can we diligently discern the best use of our money? Where should we leverage our resources? When do we save and when to spend?

I recently talked to a co-worker about her new pastor. He has not been on the field very long. She said, "We must go forward. We have to go forward." I am not sure what she meant by that. I found it interesting that she is a senior adult. She reminds me of Caleb from the Bible. He lived with forward focus. He did not use his age as an excuse for not trusting God for what was ahead instead of being content to reminisce about the good old days. 

So let me ask. Where is your focus these days? Are you high centered on yesterdays spinning your wheels but getting no traction? Are you forward focused on what God will do next? He longs to move in our midst in powerful ways in the days ahead. So be forward focused in your next quiet time, next gathering for corporate worship, your intentional sensitivity to His next nudging, and all in obedient to whatever He leads you to do next. I am betting if all of us do that, we will find ourselves on a thriving adventure.