“No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but 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.”
We just started a New Year! Some may be thinking of 2024 and all that has happened or all that did not happen. The enemy wants us to focus on how far we have fallen, rather than how far we have risen. He cannot make you do anything. He has no power over you. His only power is deception.
The Lord sees not only what you are right now, but also what you can become. Do you know that the plans that God has for us are not guaranteed to happen? It is up to us to choose to cooperate with the plans He has.
One Sunday my pastor’s wife said, “We need to start recognizing the good that the Lord has done for us. And stop believing the lies of the enemy. Do not look at the bad in your past as the expectation of your future.” These words started me thinking about this month’s devotional title.
What the Bible Says About Expectations
Expectations can be high or low, reasonable, or unreasonable, good or bad. The Bible speaks of expectations of redemption (Romans 8:19), expectations of judgment (Hebrews 10:27), delayed expectations and realized expectations (Proverbs 13:12), and unrealized expectations (Proverbs 11:7). We are to press forward, forgetting what lies behind us. Paying attention to the things we focus on and magnify the word of the Lord more than ever before.
God teaches and counsels us as He reveals Himself to us through His Word and Spirit. He has made this promise to us: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8). God wants us to focus on our strengths and not our weaknesses, our victories and not our losses. Our joys and not our problems. We can’t reach forward until we get free from the past.
Look to the Future and Don’t Look Back!
When Paul said he was “forgetting those things which are behind,” he referred to not looking back at past relationships, memories, failures, temptations, or anything that might distract from a single-minded focus on “the upward call of God in Christ.” To inspire the people, Paul depicts the image of an athlete running a race with uncompromising determination to reach the finish line and win the prize.
The word, “forgetting”, in Philippians 3:13 means “dismissing from the mind or paying no attention to.” To “forget” in this way is to stop dwelling on something. To win the race, a runner must dismiss every distraction from his mind. He must not rehash every early misstep or dwell on the mistakes along his course.
“Forgetting what is behind” is Paul’s way of saying, “Don’t look back! Stop dwelling on the past. Don’t let anything behind you interfere with your present progress or future efforts.” Personal growth as a believer was a constant priority in Paul’s life. He strained with every fiber of his being to keep moving forward to win the prize for which God had called him.
In everything, we should look to God and trust Him. His promises are true, and our expectation that He will fulfill His Word is called faith. We can expect God to do exactly what He says He will do. When based on God’s Word, our expectations will never fail to be met. I encourage you to seek out God’s plans for you and cooperate with them. Look to your future with great expectations.
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